WWF/WWE/ECW/WCW

I'll be curious to see what AEW and NXT do on Wednesday.

For now, I've had enough of this bullshit.  Off to finish "Tarantula"...

I didn't see the Rumble match so actually watching longer than I thought I would.

Wow, Mania moving to performance center now with no audience. https://411mania.com/wrestling/wwe-announces-wrestlemania-update-will-stream-from-performance-center/

I almost feel sorry for Vince.  What else could he do????  I said "almost"....

I'm actually enjoying this Rumble match. They actually got their money's worth out of Brock!

AEW with an empty arena, looks like NXT is showing reruns.

After Dark Order teasing Matt Hardy & Raven I knew it wouldn't be them. Tonight before the show I thought "I bet it's Like Harper". Yep, he debuted tonight on AEW.

Again, odd with no crowd but so far it's better than Raw or Smackdown with no crowd.

I thought NXT was actually pretty interesting.

That hour-long recap of the Ciampa/Gargano feud was fascinating to me since I wasn't following NXT for most of that.  I mean, I never even heard of DYI.  Watching that recap made me think Gargano is actually the face in that feud which I never would have thought based on his actions since I started watching NXT.

I also enjoyed the feature on Rhea Ripley.  I find her attractive for some reason I can't quite explain. Seeing what she looked like with "normal" (albeit dyed) hair sort of makes me think it is her high cheekbones and facial structure because she was freakin' hot with long blonde hair. 

But that is a generic look (especially in WWE) so I get why she went with the "Mad Max" haircut and yet somehow I still think she's good-looking.

I really hope she beats Charlotte at WrestleMania.

I didn't watch the whole episode of AEW as I started dozing off (I go to work early) so I DVR'd it and went to bed. After Luke Harper debuted as Brodie Lee I thought that would be it for the night... Only to find out Matt Hardy debuted later in the show.

Right now I think my favorite female wrestler is Hiraku Shida, but it could have more to do with her looks. I think she is very pretty (and to me "pretty" is different than "hot"). Also enjoy Kris Statlander.

Just saw this on CBS Sports:

WWE WrestleMania 36 will be held over two nights for the first time in history; it will also take place from multiple locations on each day -- bringing to mind WrestleMania 2, which was held in three separate locations (Uniondale, New York; Rosemont, Illinois; Los Angeles).

"WrestleMania, for the first time ever, will be held as a two-night event streaming on Saturday, April 4 and Sunday, April 5 at 7 pm ET on WWE Network and available on pay-per-view," WWE announced in a press release. "The two-night pop culture extravaganza will be hosted by three-time Super Bowl Champion Rob Gronkowski. ... WrestleMania will not only take place at WWE's training facility but will include multiple locations over two nights. All locations will be closed sets with only essential personnel."

And I'm still not interested in WM.  I'd probably watch if it was free but since it's not, forget it.

Watching Smackdown.

This whole thing with Rob Gronkowski "hosting" just WREAKS of desperation on the part of WWE.  They are SO trying to save WrestleMania which everyone knows should have just been totally cancelled or given away for free given the state the world is in right now. 

And Gronkowski sounds so "practiced" in this interview that it's really pathetic. 

And here comes King Corbin.  This is the first time in history I've ever wanted Corbin to kick someone's ass.

...and here comes Elias AGAIN. 

You know he really needs to lose the guitar-playing schtick because EVERY single song Elias does sounds EXACTLY the same; like an outtake from a Pearl Jam album; a cut that didn't quite make the album.

Geez I'm tired of this crap.  And it seems even more obvious with no fans.

Bayley is soooo losing at WM.

She has to go through 6 people and the last one is Sasha Banks.  I predict Banks wins it.

This skit with Miz and Morrison playing their potential "competition teams" is hilarious!

tohostudios wrote:

This skit with Miz and Morrison playing their potential "competition teams" is hilarious!

Easily the most entertaining thing since the empty arena stuff started.

One thing that got on my nerves is that WM is too big for one night shtick. No, it's not too big for one night, it's too big to adhere to crowds of no more than 10. I'm watching it only because I have the network subscription, I wouldn't pay for it. Actually that's the reason I watch any of their PPV events.

Yeah, if I was paying for it I'd watch too but otherwise forget it unless it was free. 

I sort of think Vince is missing a major opportunity here.  He's going to lose money on the thing no matter what; hell half the wrestling fans I talk to already think it was canceled.  So give it away for free, promote the hell out of your shows, your network and your merchandise and try to recoup the losses via good publicity.

I'm watching the first live match on RAW and it's amazing to me how much the crowd noise really contributes to the overall pro wrestling viewing experience.

Everyone from the announcers to the wrestlers and refs appear to be trying their best to carry on as normal but it's just not the same; it's "hollow".

I thought AEW did a much better job with having some talent at ringside. I forgot all about Raw last night but I am sure I didn't miss much.

Watching NXT and the show opened with the info that the next NXT Takeover will be taking place on this show.  That's great for me! Finally, something good out of this mess.

You know, one thing these "empty arena" shows has made me realize is what a difference crowd reactions make when you're watching on TV.

NXT just did a solid angle obviously setting up a three-way match between NA Champ Keith Lee, Dominic Dijovec and Damian Priest.  The angle was pretty run of the mill but well-executed by all three wrestlers but it just came off flat with no crowd noise.

In a major story, Roman Reigns is reportedly out of his WrestleMania 36 match with Goldberg. Pro Wrestling Sheet reports that sources close to the matter said that Reigns told WWE he no longer felt comfortable performing at the WWE Performance Center during the COVID-19 pandemic due to the fact that his fight against leukemia left him immunocompromised, and he doesn’t want to risk his health.

WWE agreed to the request, and Reigns will be replaced with someone else for the WWE Championship match. At this point it is unclear who that will be.

I absolutely cannot blame Reigns for that decision; I'd do the same thing.

I'm watching Smackdown and it's just as lame as it was before there was no crowd.

But that Miz/Charlotte Flair Snickers commercial made me laugh out loud (literally).

Miz is conducting one of his usual interviews and Charlotte is his "guest" but every time he asks her a question he hit's a button that goes "Wooooo".  Finally he asks "What does Charlotte Flair's dog say?" and again he hits the button that goes "Wooooo" and then he adds "ffffff".

C'mon, that's just funny!

Tomorrow (3/29) ESPN is showing WrestleMania 32 starting at 7pm ET.

I'm watching the ESPN broadcast of WrestleMania 32.

It's opening with a 7-man ladder match for the Intercontinental Title.  I think the most interesting participant in this match is "Stardust" (aka Cody Rhodes).  Other notables are Sin Cara (did WWE cut him loose finally?) and Kevin Owens (the champion at the time).  Whatever happened to Owens?  I haven't seen him in forever.

It's also interesting to see Dolph Ziggler in his "in-ring" persona back then since I've gotten sort of used to him as a normal, working wrestler from his frequent appearances on "Miz and Mrs".  Yeah he's more or less gone back to that now but it's still interesting to see one of Miz's "real life" best friends behave this way back then.  I'm getting the impression that Ziggler is like Ric Flair and can play the heel or face role with equal credibility.  And the guy IS good in the ring so...

Oh, and John "Bradshaw" Layfield is on commentary; he needs to stick to his stock market analyst role because he's pretty irritating as the "heel color commentator".