Just seen that Miz promo..wow. So was it all a work or did The Miz really get pissed at Daniel Bryan? At one point it looked like The Miz had tears in his eyes as he got that worked up.

Either way...shoot or scripted it was bloody great

A 12 year old who isn't wised up to the worked nature of it all, Probably would get a shock to find Barbra Windsor is alive if he was an EE fan

Yes.


RAW started stronger but by week 3/4, Smackdown was emerging stronger. Let's see what RAW is like once it has cruiserweight a filling a segment or two - will it feel like it drags as much?

One problem I have is when Smackdown makes a match, they've shown you something the previous week or backstage earlier to show the match makes sense and its announced in time. RAW seems to have Foley announcing matches left, right and centre in the heat of the moment (like the divas match this week, Cesaro/Rusev before that, etc.).

Just caught up with Raw & SD; some thoughts:

Smackdown has been quite a fluid show these past three weeks. There seems to be a plan for everyone that's being shown at the moment, which is great to see.

My only gripe is seeing Shane & Bryan WAY too much. I'm at the stage picturing them sharing a room with bunk beds.

I'm loving Heath Slater in this new role. He's really good on the mic, even covering that stumble very quickly & naturally as he got in the ring during what was a great opener. 15 mins that covered so much for so many superstars.

The Smackdown belts look better; blue and silver complement each other well. Not sure why there needs to be a 'universal' title. If there's identical tag and women's surely the logical move would be a raw 'world' title.

Carmella's heel turn was a good move. She was the only woman on SD I was very meh about.

I missed Eva's announcer this week

I'd love to see AJ get the title from Ambrose. To me he's number one on SD. I feel for Ziggler. He's a great worker who I think would benefit from a heel turn.

Good to see Bray Wyatt back in the mix. They need to build him up with some wins.

If Naomi wants to be champ at some stage she needs to work on her mic work. She was useless on commentary.

Titus bombed SO BAD on Raw. If they want to get Darren Young and Bob Backlund over I don't think Titus is the person to do it. I've never really cared much for him in the ring.

It comes across like they don't know what they're doing with Braun Strowman (Nia on the other hand was probably planned to feud with Sasha).

Dana is really good at trash talking in the ring. She plays her part well.

I think it's really too soon for Big Cass to be pushed to this extent. Not everyone watches NXT so building him and Enzo up as a tag team could help establish both more.

Sami Zayn sold like a true professional during his match. I hope KO wins the title.

Think I would have left Primo & Epico as Los Matadores; at least they got some reaction back then. They need a valet or something because I'm not feeling the 'Shining Stars'.

I feel like KO winning the title is extremely plausible. No way does Big Cass win it, Reigns winning would cause an absolute meltdown among fans and Rollins at this point feels too predictable. KO would be a good surprise AND it'd be over too. Although it would mean the end of Jeri-KO which I'm enjoying.

I see AJ beating Ambrose. He's hot right now, but Ambrose wanting a rematch would be the only realistic way of setting up a feud between the two. If AJ loses, there's no real need for the two of them to go at it again, bar some kind of screwy finish which wouldn't at all be necessary.

Yeah, I think AJ is winning the title too, as he should. The issue is challengers. I'm assuming the Ambrose programme will last through a few PPVs though.

Former WWE Women’s champion Michelle McCool diagnosed with skin cancer

http://bit.ly/2bOOmmB

Oh no.......

I hope that she manages the condition.

Guys

I havent watched WWE properly for a couple of years now.

Just a random one for you, was watching some old videos with a mate of mine and its only just dawned on me how funny Christian was in his run with Edge 1998-2002 ish. We were crying with laughter at some of his subtle little comments.

Funny how you change with time, always preferred Edge back then!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7twh6izM6Q
"Iv got some sign language that fits that clip, 2 thumbs, totally down"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FrLNjzDIdQ
"thats why we're the champ"

Brilliant.

They haven't fully committed to anything since John Cena, 10 years ago. This second brand split seems to be the resolution to a combination of many things. The return of Shane McMahon has played a part, but mostly the USA Network taking on Smackdown and the desperate need to do something with the WWE product.

Even with the title situation surrounding the titles it's been done a little bit better this time. Still, they could have done more. An NBA type ranking system and complete call up of NXT would have been my pick. The likes of Rhyno, Jinder Mahal etc have been brought back into the same position they were when they left.

For those who don't have sky sports, sky sports mix has launched and is available to basic sky subscribers.

Currently the schedule has only been announced for 7 days but the weekday 5pm slot looks like a WWE slot.

Monday wwe Raw hits
Tuesday wwe swerved
Wednesday wwe main event

Possibly a different show on Thursday and Friday as well.

They don't have the patience to stick to a ranking system, and presumably know they'd get heat when they inevitably ignored it. (See: Dan Henderson ranked as UFC's 12th best 185lb fighter, and getting the next title shot, presumably as he's the guy who will do the most ppv buys with Bisping)

What was the better AJ/Cena match? MITB or Summerslam?

Miz mentioning how he is the one who is here and HE loves the fans is a weird comment for a heel to make. Especially one such as Miz who rips on the fans a lot

At least part of it had to be him letting out some true feeling, Maybe not directed at DB but WWE in general

Why did Daniel Bryan just walk off? Why not just punch Miz in the face? Thats generally what faces do when Heels get in their face.

Even Shane did it on Smackdown.

Because they can't/won't have a match so no physicality is needed (Does make you wonder where it is going though). Or if we go by 'storyline' then because he would be fired

Id be up for AJ winning the title but I feel they are rushing it a little bit, same how they rushed him into the Roman reigns title matches. Save the big title match for Wrestlemania.

Well it was a worked shoot, so I imagine the line was intended to blur the lines between real and scripted.

Im sure Bryan is more than capable on getting back in the ring and making someone tap just WWE doctors wont let him but indy doctors would. Saying that why do the angle if its not leading to a match especially using the comment about how when he gave the IC belt up he was coming to reclaim it in a years time.

looks like we may see Brie returning on Smackdown to join her Sister & Husband

So what happens for 8 months between now and then?

Wow just how bad is the new WWE 2K game looking?! This is a newly released clip but it looks horrible

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDo0aZMi2f4

Now look at the below clip, it is from last years game on the old gen consoles...yet it looks better than this years game on the PS4.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urekMyd6WcI

Meltzer is saying more people watched NXT takeover on Saturday than Summerslam on Sunday on the network.

We've reported how the finish to Randy Orton vs. Brock Lesnar at WWE SummerSlam went as planned for the most part. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter notes that the idea behind the match was to create a scenario where nobody knew where reality ended and where people thought Lesnar was going against the script.

Orton was apparently planning for a typical main event until he arrived to the arena. He was then told that he was not going to have a normal match, that the match wasn't about going back & forth and keeping both Superstars strong, but about making Lesnar look stronger. Original plans had the match being a one-sided destruction for Lesnar, with Orton down on the ground bleeding. That was to come off like Lesnar "went against the script" and really hurt Orton, causing confusion and the end of the match due to referee stoppage.

Orton was also reportedly told that Brock knew how to graze him with his elbow to open a cut without hurting Orton, and was told that was what would happen during the match. It turned out that Brock really elbowed Orton and hit him with stiff punches, causing Orton to need 10 staples to close a wound. Orton did as he was supposed to do - stay down and act like he was knocked out. WWE trainers and the referee looked confused because they really were. This confusion led to the referee stoppage due to blood and Orton's condition, which was really the only way for the referee to end it.

Based on what actual evidence?