6/10 TNA Slammiversary PPV - Roode v Sting, Joseph Park v Bully Ray, Angle/AJ v Daniels/Kaz, WWE...

[veintisiete]

i just dont find AW entertaining im sorry.

the only funny part about his ECW shtick was the Tony Atlas and his troll laugh

 

[grizzly hebert]

I'm behind AW simply because I am dying to see a heel stable in the WWE.

 

[4wrestling]

Originally Posted by Grizzly Hebert

I'm behind AW simply because I am dying to see a heel stable in the WWE.

I'd love to see a heel stable too, but a heel stable of Primo, Epico, and Mason Ryan?  C'mon, we all know how this would turn out.

 

[100proof]

 

[Peep Game]

Originally Posted by 3dgarfly23

Originally Posted by Mcflyy

With Sin Cara not being able to speak, Rey getting old, and Del Rio saying he'll retire can the WWE make Hunico the Latin wrestler they want to be the face of the Hispanic demographic?

Pretty sure WWE can make him the face of the Latino community. He has "IT" for a Latino wrestler, Hunico will be a World champion in two years watch!!!!!

I'd be cool with that if I thought it was a real possibility. I do think Hunico's age (34, 1 yr younger than Del Rio) hinders him, and probably would have to have his gimmick
adjusted too for that to happen. I'm a fan of his though. He was the better Sin Cara, and has been putting on really good matches on Superstars, NXT, and SD for months

now, and it would be cool to see him at least get an IC/US title run too.

 

[Peep Game]

Originally Posted by ElCubanoDel510

.

Muta with the mist to the vag? I need the full video of this now.

this is too much

They'll be doing away with the A.W. storyline already??? I actually wanted to see what happens next, though I could care less about Mason Ryan.

A.W. could be the perfect manager for somebody. Dude can talk his off, and in the ring he isn't any worse than some of the generic dudes they brought

up in the past couple of years. he has 'it', yet looks like he's about to get washed again.

 

[Nike Jordan]

The new WWE Championship belt.

 

[vc3fan]

Spinner Belt is Fine,Spinner Belt is Fine,Spinner Belt is Fine,Spinner Belt is Fine,Spinner Belt is Fine,Spinner Belt is Fine,Spinner Belt is Fine,Spinner Belt is Fine,Spinner Belt is Fine,Spinner Belt is Fine,Spinner Belt is Fine......................




That is god awful. Punk was right.

 

[grizzly hebert]

 

[ao17]

What the hell happened to the one Punk revealed last December?

 

[Mcflyy]

That seems like the small plaques they have on the sides of the belts though.

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler [+]

Spoiler

I hope

 

[Peep Game]

 

[mister916]

Maybe it's a concept?

 

[grizzly hebert]

Originally Posted by ao17

What the hell happened to the one Punk revealed last December?

Pics?

That seems like the small plaques they have on the sides of the belts though. 



Looked again and it very well could be.
  

 

[6 Rings G.O.A.T.]

that WWE title centerpiece looks heavy..

 

[Case]

I think it's the side plates too..It also looks like it's in the prep stage to be painted..You can kinda make out where paint would go and where "jewels" would go..

 

[mister916]

Yeah judging by the depth and thickness you can tell it's a side plate.

 

[hombrelobo]

Originally Posted by Nike Jordan

The new WWE Championship belt.

Source: LOLSUPERLUCHAS.

Seriously, guys. That isn't the new WWE title. MAYBE it's a side plate.. maybe.

This %*!$ happens every time a new WWE title talk is mentioned. Remember that stupid "New" WWE title someone put on YouTube last year? Yeah, nothing happened with that either.

PS INB4JERICHO customized version.

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler [+]

Spoiler

 

[brasilianmami]

Big show sucks, and so does John Cena.

 

[4wrestling]

Going back to GHIMS... Do you actually think SID is a hall of famer????? Any hall of fame. I'll take Koko B Ware over Sid.

 

[mister916]

Big Show is a lost cause.

 

[hymen man]

Jericho customized version

 

[celticspride34]

Its way to big to be a side plate... look at the book for size comparison...

 

[4wrestling]

Complete Randy Orton Story from New Observer (Not SuperLuchas)

WWE announced on 5/30 that Orton had been suspended for 60 days for a Wellness policy failure. It also came out this past week that the Nevada State Athletic Commission had granted Mir a therapeutic use exemption for testosterone prior to his 5/26 loss to Junior Dos Santos in a heavyweight title fight.

In the case of Orton, 32, it has been reported by Super Luchas and a number of other sources that Orton failed tests for both marijuana and the steroid Dianabol. Marijuana is a $2,500 fine, and a number of top stars view the fine as their pot tax. WWE increased the fine as a deterrent. Lower card wrestlers have been punished with more frequent losses and dropped pushes if they regularly tested positive for it, but main eventers have been pretty much left alone to pay their fines with no repercussions. The pot tax led to the use of Spice, a marijuana substitute, as something wrestlers were using frequently until WWE made that an illegal drug and unlike marijuana itself, one that would lead to a suspension, as happened late last year with both Ron Killings (R-Truth) and Matt Korklan (Evan Bourne).

Internally, those in WWE have been tight-lipped on the Orton suspension. The policy is considered confidential, past the reporting of failuires and suspensions, but no details as to the time frame or what were the details of the failure. The only person in the company who commented to us on it believed Orton was suspended for a positive test due to a tainted supplement. I was skeptical of Dianabol when the drug was named if only because you never hear about that drug anymore. It’s like the Betamax or eight-track machine of performance enhancing drugs, in the sense it’s not necessarily bad, but it’s now prevalent, never talked about and from another era. But the subject has been kept quiet regarding any kind of confirmation of the substance that caused the suspension (unlike with some recent suspensions like Rey Mysterio, R-Truth and Evan Bourne where it was pretty well established not only what the suspension was for, but when the positive test was first taken, which in the case of Mysterio and R-Truth, was months before the suspension). But there has been at least some accuracy of the Super Luchas stuff on this story.

They also reported Orton having a meeting on 6/1 with Vince McMahon, HHH and Kevin Dunn in Stamford which did not go well. However, another source claimed to have no knowledge such a meeting happened and said that if it had, Dunn would not have been part of it as that is not his department. Super Luchas described the meeting as hostile, claiming there are people lobbying for his termination as a cost cutting measure in the sense he has a ten-year contract through the early part of 2020 and his money is such that it’s not economically justified unless he is used in main events, and that with the second suspension, they will be leery to do so. The timing of the contract is believed to be accurate. The contracts are one-sided in the sense Orton can’t leave until that time to go elsewhere, but WWE can cut him at any time if they want to. Others have said that Orton is unlikely to be let go, but may not be brought back as soon as his suspension is over. But that may just be the normal protocol given the timing of a decision not to use him at SummerSlam to send him a message and cost him one of his biggest payoffs of the year. Another insider noted that there is a small, vocal pocket that is growing more outspoken about cutting bait on Orton, which is where the story came from. Vince McMahon is said to be going back-and-forth, but in the end, the belief was that they can’t and won’t get rid of him due to the depth issues. However, a new Smackdown opening was cut in production this week without Orton. A lot of Raw guys were put on it so because of the talent situation being what it is, the top guys are going to be appearing on both shows, but more often on Raw.

I believe it won’t be on the show that airs on 6/8, and was told it may never air, but internally they are saying losing Orton for a while isn’t going to be that big a problem and it’s the first time people are openly categorizing Punk as No. 2 as opposed to Punk and Orton being on the same level right behind Cena. In addition, the feeling is the face side on Smackdown will be fine with Sheamus, Christian and the returning Mysterio as well as Sin Cara, and if there’s a problem, they know they can turn Daniel Bryan whenever they want.

Even though there is a precedent with Jeff Hardy being pushed to the world title with two strikes, a number of people wondered, because of how close the Hardy thing came to blowing up in their face, that the mentality may change. Hardy was arrested on drug possession and trafficking charges just weeks after he had left the company and not long after he was world champion. Because of that, there has been discussion of how much of a spotlight you would put on someone with two strikes. While Orton brings differing responses from fans, among the wrestlers, he is almost universally regarded as one of the best performers in the company, and some would say the best all-around.

While Orton would be fired with a third strike, which would then eliminate the contract, nobody’s downside is so outrageous in WWE with the exception of probably The Rock and Brock Lesnar, since the big stars make most of their income based on production, pay based on their position on shows, PPVs and merchandise percentages and generally all top guys would be expected to beat their downside guarantee. Plus, with the company’s depth issue being what it is, and fear that it will get worse before it gets better, giving up on the No. 3 guy in the company who is only 32 and can work on top as a face or a heel for years to come makes no sense. It makes even less sense with so many guys who are at the top level (C.M. Punk, Alberto Del Rio) openly saying that aren’t going to be around that many more years. Add to that, John Cena has been having a lot of nagging injuries, Lesnar is unlikely to be around for the long haul, Rey Mysterio is likely having a few years left and Big Show, Mark Henry and Kane are all past 40. The only talent likely to have a ton of longevity from now, besides Cena, who will always be around, would be Daniel Bryan and perhaps Sheamus, and Sheamus is already 34. Bryan is probably going to wind up having a long run as a star, but is still the antithesis of what Vince McMahon has educated the people for the last generation of what is a headliner.

Another aspect is if Orton is cut, TNA would make a big play for him. While if one looked at things strictly as a business, it’s obvious Orton would be hired back again some time down the road, and he can over the long haul earn as much or more in one year in WWE as he could in two years in TNA. But TNA would offer a better schedule. And unlike many of WWE’s current stars who use gimmick names, since he goes by his real name, TNA will be able to bill him with his familiar name.

In addition, Orton, while not being in main events because of the company’s big push to make Sheamus as world champion into a legitimate top-tier star, was still the most popular wrestler on the Smackdown brand. Right now, with Orton out, the Smackdown house shows are headlined by Sheamus vs. Del Rio, Christian vs. Cody Rhodes and Kane vs. Khali (in the Orton spot). Rey Mysterio is scheduled to return at the end of the month, with him being available to start on the 6/25 Raw. With the strict Raw/Smackdown delineation a thing of the past, one would expect some people on the Raw side to be sent to the Smackdown side for touring, and in particular, Brodus Clay has been made for now a full-time Smackdown performer to add babyface depth. As noted last week, Cena was already booked for all Smackdown TV tapings for dark matches due to concern over ticket sales for the Tuesday shows which were not good in a lot of markets even before Orton was off the shows.

That move may or may not have been made with the knowledge of Orton being gone. Cena was advertised for several days on the same shows as Orton, but the lineups are made by Laurinaitis, who is one of the few people with knowledge regarding guys who may be suspended. Knowledge of impending suspensions can be weeks or months before the suspension is announced. But the booking of Orton in recent weeks makes absolutely no sense if the company had even two days of lead time of knowledge of the failure and the announcement of the suspension. And we’ve seen in many cases, often the knowledge of the failed test can be a couple of months before the suspension is announced.

This also is notable because reports were the writing team was not aware of Orton’s suspension until the company released it publicly and most read it on web site reports. The general protocol for someone who his suspended is to do an injury angle or come up with a storyline reason to explain their absence in their final television appearance. With Orton, his last TV saw him come out and they showed Dolph Ziggler, his scheduled replacement opponent at No Way Out, when Chris Jericho was suspended, watching. But Orton got in the ring and immediately laid out The Miz with an RKO, and that was the only thing he did on the 5/28 TV show. Orton didn’t work the 5/29 Smackdown taping (since the plan was to announce his suspension on 5/30 and Smackdown wouldn’t air until 6/1). This is hardly what the company would do to a suspended guy in most cases, let alone one that they were considering letting go, or would be leery to push upon his return. If anything, he seemed protected far more than someone who just failed a test. Most recently, R-Truth was booked in an injury angle before starting his suspension, and the normal protocol is to bring someone in for one last TV, and either beat them or hurt them on the last show. The obvious move for his final TV appearance would be for Ziggler to get a surprise win over Orton, thus elevating somebody, which they desperately need to do. It wouldn’t hurt Orton since by the time he came back a few months later, it would either be forgotten by fans happy to see him back, or could be used to start a program where Orton could get his wins back but Ziggler still benefitted by having one major televised win over a top guy.

Orton was also critical on Twitter of the decision to take him out of the lead of the new "Marine" movie, but realistically, the company had to do that once the pressure came from the Marines themselves over casting someone who deserted in a movie.

As we’ve seen with a number of the suspensions over the past few years, suspensions can come from a violation from months earlier.

Dianabol was the original anabolic steroid developed in the 1950s. As a general rule, it is believed to have only a four-to-ten day detection time in urine testing, although to be safe it’s considered a good idea to cease usage 17 days out.

But what makes the Orton case so unique is his standing, as for years, whether there is any validity to this or not, wrestlers in the company have always considered Orton as one of the company’s favorites. Again, whether true or not, the feeling is there is a double standard when it comes to testing. Still, Hardy was super popular, perhaps the single most popular wrestler in the company (although he was not pushed at that level as Cena was always the public face of the company since he is low maintenance and considered no-risk to have in that position, but he was Smackdown’s main star) when he was suspended 60 days and missed a WrestleMania. And he continued to be pushed at the same level, and was even given the world title again, even with two strikes and even after giving notice he was leaving. Both Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara are kids heroes and both were publicly outed for failures.

Still, with Orton, there has been controversy over him not being suspended in the 2007 Signature Pharmacy scandal along with the other wrestlers on the list of recipients of packages of steroids and other banned substances.

Of the full-time wrestlers, Orton had been No. 2 on the pecking order behind Cena, since Hardy left, until the rise of Punk. Even with Hardy there and before Edge was forced out due to a career ending neck injury, Orton was really pushed and protected as a top guy more than anyone but Cena. Only of late has Punk surpassed him for that position. He’s still young, actually younger than Punk and Sheamus for that matter, but has the experience in the sense he understands how to work his character better than almost anyone on the roster, and is an established long-term main eventer. Orton was the person chosen by the company and THQ to be the face of last year’s video game, which is a big deal because that means doing a lot of game marketing with the trust that you won’t embarrass the company in a spotlight position.

Until this past year, when the company has made the effort to brand Punk and Sheamus as champions, there was a string dating back years where almost every PPV show had either Orton or Cena in a title match.

As Orton’s second strike on the drug policy, his 60 day suspension would end 7/29, meaning Orton would miss the 1,000th Raw in his home city of St. Louis on 7/23. He would be able to return on the 7/30 Raw, in time for SummerSlam. The general company rule had been that if a wrestler’s suspension goes into the period building the show, he or she is usually not used until after that PPV. It’s not a hard and fast rule, but more that with a mid-level wrestler it really doesn’t matter. Orton is the type of wrestler who can be plugged into an angle in a week, so he could very well be at SummerSlam, the company’s No. 3 event of the year, but from all accounts, the mood right now seems to be to at least not have him appear on that show.

Estimates regarding 60 days off and what a wrestler of Orton’s level would be earning over the summer were that this would likely cost him in the range of $200,000. If he is not booked on SummerSlam and kept off a few weeks of TV and house shows after the 60 days, the amount he would have lost due to the positive test would be closer to $275,000, so this is no financial slap on the wrist.

It also means one more drug test related suspension and he would be fired. Based on the policy, if fired, he could not return to the company for one year, and then, if he did return, he would come back with two strikes. Orton was quietly suspended in August, 2006, before the period when WWE publicly announced test failures. He missed 30 days and there was an excuse given regarding taking time off to remodel his home, but it later came out it was exactly as reported. He had several other incidents that resulted in suspensions, disciplinary action, as well as non-action in 2006 and 2007 that did not count as strikes in the drug policy.

Orton, Matt Korklan (Evan Bourne), Robert Huffman (Booker T), Darren Matthews (William Regal) and Oscar Gutierrez (Rey Mysterio) also have two strikes on the current roster. No WWE wrestler has ever been suspended three times on the drug policy and the company been forced to fire them. The rule is that a third suspension means termination and the earliest they could be hired back would be another year. They would also return with two strikes. Huffman quit the company in 2007 after he was suspended for being on the Signature Pharmacy list, which was his second failure and a 60 day suspension that he quit over. When he returned, his two strike status returned.

Orton was suspended for 60 days after the 2006 WrestleMania when he was reportedly smoking marijuana inside the building at a live event shortly before Mania. The company did delay the suspension until after the big show. This in a sense was a drug issue but it was not a failed test and not counted against him. Orton has spoken about it, and blamed it on the official who turned him in (believed to be TNA Executive Bruce Prichard). It wasn’t the marijuana that was as much an issue, since WWE does not suspend talent for marijuana positives, as doing it so flagrantly in a public setting where it could have been very negative publicity for the company. The suspension at the time was meant to send a message to Orton. There were a number of incidents that he was not suspended for when it came to discipline, so while the punishment may sound harsh, it was more an accumulation of things that led to the time frame of the suspension than a single incident.

In April, 2007, Orton was sent home by management after trashing a hotel room, doing a reported $30,000 worth of damage to the room, while on a European tour. He was not suspended for that incident. He did have to pay all damages. In fact, Orton headlined the Backlash PPV which took place right after the tour.

Orton’s name also came out in the Signature Pharmacy case in August, 2007. Unlike the other wrestlers whose name came up in an investigation of an Internet steroid distribution ring which would have doctors routinely write prescriptions for clients, including nearly 20% of the roster at the time, Orton was never suspended, nor was he given a second strike. Nobody has ever given an answer that holds water as to what happened.

Jerry McDevitt in 2010 told Irv Muchnick it was because Orton’s name was not on the list of wrestlers receiving packages from Signature Pharmacy when Albany prosecutors contacted the company. It’s also been reported in other places Orton wasn’t suspended because he had already been suspended in August, 2006, for the same violation. But both responses seem to have issues.

We spoke to someone who had a copy of the list of athletes on the list, and when I asked about Randy Orton, was given specifics of what and when. According to information in the documents, that went reported at the time, Orton received Somatotropin (a Growth Hormone) along with steroids Nandrolone (Decadurabolin) and Stanazolol (Winstrol V) in packages. The final package came February 2007, so it would seem to make no timing sense that a suspension in August could cover a violation six months later.

Orton was scheduled for the main event against Cena on the September 16, 2007, Unforgiven PPV at the time. Nandrolone was a red flag because it is the drug avoided the most by athletes in drug tested sports because it can stay in ones system and be detected usually for six months, and if someone is unlucky, as long as 18 months and the idea of wrestlers using that drug and not getting caught, unlike steroids that can’t be picked up for more than a few days, raised significant questions at the time.

Three different news sources (ESPN, Sports Illustrated and the New York Daily News) had different names although the lists were similar, of those receiving packages from Signature Pharmacy, along with the list we were able to reference. Orton’s name was listed in all three stories, so it doesn’t seem to make sense his name wouldn’t be on the list of names WWE received. In addition, another party with the complete list, when informed Orton was the only major name not suspended, responded by saying Orton was one of the most flagrant violators.

There was also a prior investigation where his name came up that had noted Orton receiving Stanazolol, Nandrolone, Testosterone, Oxandrolone (Anavar), Anastrozole (a drug used by steroid users to minimize side effects from steroids such as the development of Gynocomastia or +#@%! +**%) and Clomiphene citrate (Clomid), but those were all during the period before the death of Eddy Guerrero. WWE did have a drug policy that included steroids in place at the time, but was doing no testing and not enforcing it. The company felt it was unfair, and it would have been, to take action against wrestlers during that period since it was tacitly understood that it was okay. After the death of Guerrero, McMahon told the wrestlers in a meeting a few days later that he was going to implement drug testing, and picked it up a few months later. But there was widespread skepticism of the validity of the program, particularly with so many wrestlers using steroids that should have been easily detected in packages from Signature Pharmacy and other investigations of doctors that came out in the wake of the Chris Benoit murders.

Still, the belief was Orton, who legitimately went through anger management classes, was a more mature and different person than he was years ago, when he seemed a lightning rod for trouble.

 

[4wrestling]

Brock Lesnar Has NUCLEAR Heat? (From New Observer)

There is a lot to why Lesnar has not been mentioned on television the past two weeks, nothing has been done on his angle and no clips have been shown, no follow up has been on the Heyman and Lesnar storyline lawsuit nor has Heyman been on the show nor any "messages sent by Lesnar" been part of any TV. According to several sources, there is nuclear heat on Lesnar right now, a lot of which stems from his going to the UFC show and their knowledge that he met with Dana White. As noted last week, not only was Vince McMahon not behind it, but he wasn’t aware of it until it happened. But there were problems even before that point, which may have been why Lesnar decided to go to Las Vegas and feelers were sent.

Those close to the situation say that Lesnar vs. HHH is still planned as the main event for SummerSlam and because it’s HHH’s angle, even with this heat, that match is almost surely going to happen. There have been problems since day one in the sense Lesnar got this sweetheart contract and has been difficult or impossible, depending on who you talk with, to deal with from almost the start. Lesnar was super high maintenance in his 2002-2004 run and Vince found him difficult then with his constant demands and wanting things changed, but now Lesnar is a tons bigger star and is said to be a completely different animal to deal with, plus he’s coming off his UFC success and money and even though he probably isn’t Dana White’s favorite person this week either, he can always make a deal to go back and make the same if not more money than he’s making here.

As we stated from day one of the deal, this is a completely different person than Vince has ever had to deal with. Even though The Rock and Steve Austin and others have no financial worries and plenty to do, at the end of the day, they both love wrestling, and WWE is wrestling because they aren’t about to be doing TNA. Whatever ups and downs Vince may have or they may have, the relationship is always going to stay cordial at the end of the day. With Lesnar, there are trust issues dating back almost a decade and Lesnar also doesn’t love wrestling, it’s just something he does really well.

Right now the company is trying to send a message to him by giving Show the push as the "I’m not an entertainer, I’m a badass in real life" position that was Lesnar’s line. The line about Show being far tougher than a fake UFC fighter was meant as a shot at Lesnar. The funny thing is, Lesnar was likely not watching the show and probably wouldn’t care. Because they are still going on with Lesnar vs. HHH, at some point, probably soon, they’ll contact him, try and work things out, and start talking about the storyline on television. The belief is now that instead of keeping it going weekly with Heyman or clips, to just forget about it and bring it back in a few weeks when it’s time to bring it back. But it was the UFC thing that was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

In addition, the attitude when the buy rate came in was almost exactly as many had predicted would happen in the sense when Vince was in the mode that he was going to sign UFC’s biggest star and at the time, particularly since he couldn’t get what he wanted at the 2011 Mania, that whatever it took to make the deal, he’d make it. But when the first buy rate came in for a "B" show, even with knowledge of what happened when Rock was on Survivor Series and with the Punk angle, that Vince would start thinking he made a bad major deal similar to Bret Hart in 1996 and Bill Goldberg in 2003.

Another person noted that Lesnar signed for even fewer dates than most think and they blew through too many of them at once. Right now, he’s scheduled for SummerSlam, but there’s nothing in the fall including Survivor Series. It may be SummerSlam and Mania, or SummerSlam, Rumble and Mania, and that’s it. Another thing we were told was a message although again it’s one of those messages that nobody actually picked up on, was when HHH was on Raw doing a 1,000th episode plug, he was not selling the arm (he wore a suit jacket so if there was supposed to be a brace, wink, wink, you wouldn’t see it allowing fans to believe what they want) and moving both arms freely while discussing the night he came back to Madison Square Garden after tearing his quad in 2002.

Lesnar can always go back to UFC for a comeback fight, but long-term, being away from MMA and not training, combined with his being 34 and likely losing his speed at that age in what is a speed sport, for money and longevity, pro wrestling at this point is the better fit.