Category: Wrestling Musings

All posts related to pro rasslin’ that isn’t covering specific shows or events.

WWE Moves Money In The Bank B-Show From Stadium To Small Arena

Source: https://www.f4wonline.com/news/wwe/wwe-moving-money-in-the-bank-to-smaller-venue-las-vegas

Due to poor ticket sales a perceived bomb threat from would-be international incidental parties, WWE has opted to move their Money In The Bank B-Show from the larger Reliant Stadium to the much smaller MGM Grand Arena. Best wishes to all the talent who were threatened by this potential terrorist act.
Or maybe save the stadiums for the big shows and not your throwaway gimmick show… and yes, I’m calling Money In The Bank a throwaway gimmick show.
I wonder if they’ll blame Cody for this somehow…

A Note On Kayfabe Commentaries’ Best Of KC Vault Youtube Page

Source: https://www.youtube.com/c/KCVault

Our regularly scheduled program has been postponed to tomorrow afternoon due to last minute editorial changes. Sorry.
In lieu of that, I do want to plug one thing and it’s not my thing; I have nothing to do with it nor am I associated with this in any way, but Kayfabe Commentaries has a Youtube channel called BEST OF THE KC VAULT, where they will upload some of their DVD releases from their catalogue for a limited time sampling that people can watch for free and if they want to check out the rest of their stuff, they can subscribe to the Kayfabe Commentary streaming vault, which I think has their entire library of shoot interviews. I’ve sampled some of their stuff in the past; some folks will put up clips on Youtube, I know I was gifted a couple of the Guest Booker shows converted to MP3 format, which made for a great podcast listen for those long trips.
But I only found out about the channel a short while ago and folks, there is not a product of the shoot variety that I could recommend more than the Kayfabe Commentary stuff. Sean Oliver, the man behind that machine, comes across as animated, personable, and also smart. The kind of host who makes the whole thing feel like a conversation between old friends, even thought it’s not really the case, save for some repeat guests. The Cornette stuff on there is pure fucking gold, the YouShoot with Dixie Carter and Scott Halll were a highlight, and they had the Kevin Nash Guest Booker – Guest Booker being a thing where a booker would be given an alternate scenario – in this case, what if Hall and Nash stayed with WWF in 96 – and how would they book that? And Guest Booker was always fascinating to me because you got to see the minds of wrestling at work, brainstorming this alternate scenario while also giving insights into their booking philosophies as well as some tales from behind the scenes.
I always dug Sean Oliver’s stuff, I somewhat regret not picking up a DVD or two along the way when they were available; most of my exposure to his work was on Youtube; via clips uploaded by unofficial sources, we shall call them. I did buy the audio versions of his two wrestling books; KAYFABE and the BUSINESS OF KAYFABE. Both great reads, great listens too; Sean did a good job with the audio books and they helped me out during a time when I needed the help. I’m glad that there’s a way to sample his stuff and also an easy way to access this stuff with his streaming service, which I might make a point to one of these days subscribe to.
But yeah, BEST OF THE KC VAULT, if you want a cycling sampler of the DVDs he’s produced over the years, I’ve provided a link above and I would highly recommend it. And if you dig it, join the streaming service he has up, send him a couple bucks, and check out stuff that isn’t just variations of one dude asking how big Batista’s dick is… because I know that’s all some people know him as and god knows he’d rather forget that… but he’s making as an author of fiction, so at least he’s keeping busy these days.
Anyway, that was my poor attempt at a plug.

Steiner Bros. Going To The WWE Hall Of Fame

Source: https://www.f4wonline.com/news/wwe/the-steiner-brothers-to-be-inducted-into-wwe-hall-of-fame-2022

Well, it’s appropriate that Hell froze over today because it’s fucking cold out. I wonder if Big Poppa Pump found that physical Hall Of Fame that he says don’t exist. Actually, I’m wondering if we can finally change Bron Breakker’s name to something Steiner-esque.

Seth's Path To Wrestlemania In This Link

Send this link over to Seth Rollins if he wants a sure fire path to Wrestlemania.

It worked for John Cena and he even got a match with the Undertaker.
There are days when I wish I hadn’t retired the WTF label on this blog because what a stupid storyline this is. If I didn’t have a path to Mania, I’d stay the fuck home.

Quick Note On Big E and Scott Hall

We unfortunately have to start the week with a couple donwers.
Last Friday on Smackdown, Big E suffered a horrendous neck injury, taking an overhead suplex and landing right on his head – they say broken neck, which is a bit of a misnomer because a broken neck means you’re dead, but he has a couple fractured discs in his vertebrae and fortunately he doesn’t need surgery, but his prospects for an in-ring future is uncertain because one of those discs is the C1 and when that breaks, you’re dead. So, tough break for the dude. I wish him a speedy recover, I hope for the best. I saw the clip, that sucked, and look, hoping for the best with Big E.
Around that same, Scott Hall was on life support following three heart attacks due to hip surgery having gone wrong and last word, according to Kevin Nash, is that he’ll be taken off life support once the family gets together. So, that’s also sad and I can offer thoughts and prayers to the rest of the family and friends of Scott Hall, who was a man of many demons, but also a man with a great mind for the business, as well as one of the most enduring stars of wrestling’s hottest period. Godspeed, Mr. Hall, and thanks for the memories.
Nothing else to say at this point. Later.

There Goes The Money – Shane McMahon GONE From WWE

Source: https://www.f4wonline.com/news/wwe/shane-mcmahon-out-of-wwe-no-longer-booked-for-future-shows

So, apparently, Shane booked the Rumble and made himself a big deal. People were upset. Booking plans supposedly leaked which included matches against Bobby Lashley, Seth Rollins, and even his being part of that Elimination Chamber match for the WWE title. Yes, 52 year old SHANE MCMAHON competing for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. He probably should’ve waited three years if he wanted to be the old WWE Champion, because Vince won it at 54 in 1999.
Well, none of that is happening, because apparently Shane is gone from WWE… maybe he can go buy WCW or TNA or ROH or something and we can have a big ol’ failed Invasion. Hell, you could bring in Stephanie and she can be the owner of GCW or something.
I tried.

BREAKING NEWS: Kevin Owens Re-Signs With WWE

Source: https://www.f4wonline.com/wwe-news/kevin-owens-re-signs-multi-year-deal-wwe-362781

My guess is Kevin Owens saw HOOK’s debut on Rampage, decided he wanted no part of that, and took a new multi-year deal with WWE… okay, maybe not. But it makes for a better story.
Good for him, though. The guy’s talented, fun to watch, and if they offered him a shitload of money to stick around, then he deserves every nickel he gets.

Why Should I Care About Brand Supremacy?

So, it’s November and we’re closing in on the annual WWE tradition that is Survivor Series.

One of the “Big Four” PPV events that also comprise Summerslam, Royal Rumble, and Wrestlemania, Survivor Series was the show where you had two teams of four or five teammates competing in elimination-style matches. The earliest editions of the event were nothing but these elimination matches and were such a staple of the event, even when they started varying up the card with other matches.

Once upon a time, these sorts of matches were used to pit two rival groups against each other or other special circumstances. In recent years, however, Survivor Series has had only one central theme; brand supremacy. This was the “ONE NIGHT” where superstars from RAW and Smackdown would wear either red RAW shirts or blue Smackdown shirts. And they would compete against one another to see which brand was superior. Never mind the fact that there have been numerous occasions outside of Survivor Series, where RAW and Smackdown talent would interact and compete in matches with each other; particularly during the weeks surrounding the Draft or Superstar Shakeup or whatever venacular they decide to go with that time.

For reasons that escape me, there is an allure in wondering which WWE show is superior and there absolutely needs to be a show based on this concept. Of course, there were other attempts at this. There was the short-lived Bragging Rights show, which built on this premise alone before it was decided to move it to Survivor Series, where it had remained to this day. And this is the thing that is supposed to sell PPVs or Network subscriptions or whatever the case may be.

So I have a honest question; does anybody really care about brand supremacy?

Continue reading “Why Should I Care About Brand Supremacy?”