Former WWE writer and polarising figure Vince Russo recently commented on the WWE ‘Retribution’ angle.
The Retribution have been making their presence felt on WWE programming over the past few weeks. The group have been invading RAW, SmackDown and PPV events and their actual intentions and identities are at this point unknown.
Vince Russo on Retribution
“Bro, this takeover is freaking comical” Vince Russo began on The Brand’s 8 Days a Week; describing how he feels about the way Retribution have gone about their business in WWE. “You made everybody on your roster look like a bunch of effing idiots, bro. There’s a match going on in the ring. So the entire locker room comes out to the ring to make sure that the Retribution don’t attack the ring.”
“Meanwhile, the ‘new kids on the block’ have beaten up someone in the back right?” Russo would continue. “So they [creative] wrote that a referee comes out and gives the talent in the ring the heads up. They’re now out of here and they’re in the back, they’re in their back, bro I swear to God, like the Keystone cops.”
Vince Russo would then lay the blame solely on SmackDown Executive Director Bruce Prichard. Bruce Prichard himself of course has a long running podcast himself (Something To Wrestle With) and he has taken the opportunity to ridicule Russo’s creative on more than one occasion. “All the talent are running back and I’m like are you effing, like what am i watching here Bruce!?” Russo would finish. “What is wrong with you? And you want to sit there on your show and bury me? Are you kidding!?”
Right now there’s no definitive confirmation on how the Retribution angle will play out. On this week’s episode of SmackDown, Roman Reigns was seen backstage with Paul Heyman, who appeared to be his new ‘advocate.’ There have previously been rumblings of Reigns being behind the Retribution group, as he only just recently returned to television at SummerSlam.
So perhaps WWE has a masterplan for the group after all?
Do you agree with Vince Russo? Have Retribution been booked poorly? Let us know in the comments
WWE Hall of Famer and co-host of SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio Bully Ray recently commented on the 20th anniversary of the first TLC match in WWE.
Whilst the ‘triangle’ ladder match from WrestleMania 2000 was essentially a TLC bout? SummerSlam 2000 saw the first official Tables, Ladders and Chairs match between The Dudley Boys, Edge & Christian and The Hardy Boyz.
During that match Bully Ray took a massive bump off of the top of the ladder onto tables in the aisle way. Ray would jokingly mention how WWE icon and Hardcore Legend Mick Foley would mock him so taking such a risky bump to the floor. It’s ironic as of course Foley himself is probably best known for his Hell in a Cell spot. That was when The Undertaker threw him of the top of the cage.
Bully Ray on SummerSlam ‘Spot’
“I wanted to have a memorable moment” Bully Ray began on the show. “Everybody in wrestling wants to have that; that moment in time that can live forever. Obviously with Mick Foley? It was taking the bump off of the Hell in The Cell. And that was kind of like what I had in mind.”
“I’m like, ‘Mick [Foley] will always be remembered for his bump off the cell no matter what'” Bully Ray continued. “No matter how entertaining Mick was with Mr Socco, Dude Love or Rock and Sock? What do you think of when you say Mick Foley? The bump off the top [of the cage]. So I wanted to have a moment like that and I figured, ‘well I’m gonna go stand on the top of that ladder; I’m going to reach for the belts and then I’m going to get pushed over. and I’m going to crash and burn through the floor tables.'”
Bully Ray would then talk about how Mick Foley brought up the bump in conversation shortly after. “It was interesting, because after about a month after that match was over? I saw Mick. We were talking and he was congratulating us and me on a great match. And he then said to me ‘why did you take that bump?’
“I said ‘well Mick to be honest with you I wanted to do something memorable'” Bully continued. “When I’m dead and buried and long gone I want people to be able to remember me for some cool moment. You know? I was trying to emulate what you did’. And he [Foley] goes, ‘you do realize you would have gotten paid the same amount of money if you took a clothesline!?’ And I was like, ‘oh my god, you’re such a buzzkill.'”
Ahead of the upcoming WWE TLC pay-per-view, SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio co-host Bully Ray recently commented on the 20th anniversary of the first-ever TLC match.
Whilst the ‘triangle’ ladder match from WrestleMania 2000 was essentially a TLC bout? SummerSlam 2000 saw the first official Tables, Ladders and Chairs match between The Dudley Boys, Edge & Christian and The Hardy Boyz.
Bully Ray on TLC Matches
“You don’t have time to think” Bully Ray began on the podcast. “Like when you’re taking a bump like I took off of the ladder that night? Or the bump that Matt [Hardy] took backwards off the ladder? The more you think, the worse it’s going to be.”
“You’ll get in your own head” Bully Ray continued, “you just want to grip it and rip it and go out there.”
Bully Ray would then discuss the extreme difficulty in putting together a TLC match, especially with 5 other performers in the bout. “A TLC match is probably the most difficult match to pull off in all of pro wrestling. And the reason is all six guys have to know the match backwards and forwards. Every step, every way. Because if one guy goes down? If something happens, if something goes wrong? Even the smallest of things? It’s going to be a dramatic chain reaction.”
Ray elaborated further, saying “everybody has to be able to fill in, everybody has to be able to improvise. You need to know where everybody is. When you come up with a match sometimes? You maybe only know the finish, and then sometimes you only know a couple spots. Some guys know the entire match. This particular match? Everybody has to know backwards and forwards, and everybody has to recite the match backwards and forwards. [Just so] all the other guys know that you got it.”
Have you seen the original TLC match? Have any others ever topped it? Let us know your thoughts in the comments
WWE Hall of Famer and co-host of Busted Open Radio Mark Henry recently discussed WWE Superstar Ricochet on the show.
Henry and host Dave LaGreca were covering Pat McAfee and his recent promo work in NXT. Mark Henry was complimentary of McAfee’s work, saying “he’s glib, he knows who he is.” The World’s Strongest Man would then move on to talk about the RAW Superstar Ricochet; saying that he needs to be more forceful in how he approaches his on-screen character.
Mark Henry on Ricochet
“I don’t find this offensive, but I don’t want my guy [Ricochet] to get angry” Mark Henry began on the podcast. I told Ricochet, last time I saw him, ‘why would you allow somebody to tell you who you are?’
Mark Henry would then discuss the idea of WWE talent being given more leeway with their promo and character work. “YOU go out and dictate what the narrative is about you, how you want to be portrayed. Everybody knows that Ricochet is awesome. There’s probably not 10 people better than him as a pro wrestler.”
“But the difference between Ricochet and Pat McAfee” Mark Henry would continue, “is Pat McAfee knows who he is. And he don’t give a damn if you don’t like it. He don’t give a damn. Ricochet needs to get some [of that]. ‘I don’t give a damn what you think. This is who I am. This is what I am.’
Henry would finish by re-iterating that he is a massive Ricochet fan, but he wants him to move on to the next level with his character work. “Then we’ll have a different Ricochet, because I’m on the Ricochet bandwagon. I want him to get fired up sometimes to where it pisses people off. Sometimes you got to break a few eggs and make an omelette.”
Do you agree with Mark Henry? Let us know in the comments
Former NFL star and WWE/NXT analyst Pat McAfee recently appeared on SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio. The Superstar Kicker will be taking on NXT’s Adam Cole on Saturday night’s NXT Takeover XXX event.
Pat McAfee began the interview on Busted Open by talking up his credentials as a pro wrestling fan and his genuine love of WWE. “Just like most wrestling fans, I would assume, when I watch and I’d see the ‘outsider’ come in? You KNOW when they were just taking advantage of a marketing opportunity with the WWE” McAfee stated.
Pat McAfee on ‘Outsiders’
“And there is no work put in, they look disgusting in the ring” McAfee would continue; before referencing the appearance of Colin Jost and Michael Che at WrestleMania.
Jost and Che (of SNL fame) appeared at WrestleMania 35 in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, with Jost being the last to be eliminated by Braun Strowman. It’s also the event where Pat McAfee would appear on the pre-show in ‘tuxedo shorts,’ which angered Michael Cole and led to the longtime WWE announcer berating McAfee, believing that he was being ‘disrespectful’ to the spectacle of WrestleMania.
“I mean I’ll never forget when I was at that WrestleMania getting chewed out by Michael Cole for having tuxedo shorts on” McAfee continued. “I saw the two stooges from Saturday Night Live walk in and the motherf*ckers look like they couldn’t even jump if they had to. They’re in a Wrestlemania match and it was just a completely disrespectful thing to the business.”
Pat McAfee would also have some choice words for an actual top athlete who performed in WWE. “Tyson Fury, the Gypsy King? One of the greatest boxers of all time. I didn’t think his performance in the ring was that good either in the wrestling business.”
McAfee would finish by re-iterating how he intends on not disrespecting the business when he faces Adam Cole at Takeover XXX. “You have this long standing history of these outsiders coming in, and in my eyes? I thought they were disrespecting the business, because there was zero effort. There was really no buying into it, there was no selling, there’s none of that.”
Do you agree with Pat McAfee? Let us know in the comments
WWE Superstar Naomi recently appeared on WWE’s The New Day: Feel The Power podcast. The tenured Superstar discussed a number of topics from her career with the company, from FCW, to Team B.A.D and her current run with her ‘Glow’ gimmick.
The WWE Superstar would also talk about her time as a dancer for Orlando Magic. Naomi performed for Magic from 2007 to 2009, when she would sign for WWE.
Naomi would describe how she felt her tryout with WWE and (then) FCW didn’t leave her feeling she would get a job with the company. “‘I won’t be a wrestler, and I’ll keep dancing'” Naomi began on the podcast.
Naomi on Orlando Magic
“Then like literally the week before tryout FCW called and I was like ‘we want to sign you to developmental'” Naomi would continue. “I was so happy because, [Orlando] Magic was fun, but I was also at that point to where like ‘alright I gotta figure out what the hell I’m gonna do with my life.'”
Naomi would then reveal the absolutely tiny amount of money she received from performing for Orlando Magic. “Magic wasn’t paying the bills. It’s fun, it’s exciting and you get to experience so much. I got to travel, I just got to meet so many different, unique people and be in so many cool environments. But at the same time? It was a hustle, it was a grind. We got $50 per game.”
“You didn’t get to perform every game, because there was a roster of 20 girls” Naomi would elaborate further.”So we were rotating games, and there was only like during the season, maybe two to three games a week? And you’re lucky if you were on the game.”
Naomi would also reveal that while she got paid such a small amount she still had to keep a strict regime of workouts and dieting. “It’s a full time schedule, like we had rehearsals every week, several days a week. You still had to work out, you still had to train, you still had to look the part. You still you couldn’t gain a certain amount of weight while you were on the team.”
It’s worth noting if you aren’t a basketball fan that Orlando Magic are an NBA (National Basketball League) team. This would essentially be the equivalent of a company the size of WWE paying their peripheral talent $50 per appearance.
WWE Superstar Naomi recently appeared on WWE’s The New Day: Feel The Power podcast. The tenured Superstar discussed a number of topics from her career with the company, from FCW, to Team B.A.D and her current run with her ‘Glow’ gimmick.
When discussing her run with Team B.A.D, Naomi would say how it was the perfect point in hers, Tamina Snuka’s and Sasha Banks’ career to team up. “I just think at that time? We were just in a point in our careers with Sasha and Tamina where we just wanted more and wanting to grow and get better.”
Naomi on Sasha Banks
Naomi elaborated further, saying “there was so much changing and happening in the [Women’s] division. And just knowing what a superstar Sasha was and what she was going to be? Without a doubt, it was as always a pleasure to work with her to have insight from her for me.”
The WWE Superstar would then have huge praise for her former partner, saying “to me, Sasha is like the best we have in WWE, in my opinion. I got to work with Sasha in NXT, way before she became The Boss and really kicked off. I just thought she was always like an amazing person, and really admired her.”
Do you agree with Naomi about Sasha Banks? Let us know in the comments
WWE Superstar Naomi recently appeared on WWE’s The New Day: Feel The Power podcast. The tenured Superstar discussed a number of topics from her career with the company, from FCW, to Team Bad and her current run with her ‘Glow’ gimmick.
New Day member Kofi Kingston discussed the ‘glow’ styling that Naomi has in her entrance, saying how it is possibly the “best entrance in the company.”
“You embraced the whole ‘feel the glow thing’ and like reinvented yourself in that respect” Kofi Kingston began on the podcast. “And your entrance was/is amazing.”
Kofi would then reveal that the ‘Glow’ gimmick may have actually been his way back in 2010…if he took it. “Funny story about that” Kofi began. “That was, I think back in like 2010? I was with the merch team, they were trying to come up with like different shirts. They have all these terrible designs, and one of them was like this weird, like silhouette of me? There was like this weird body paint.”
Kofi Kingston as the ‘Black’ Jeff Hardy?
Kingston would elaborate further, saying “and the dude at merch was like pitching me this idea. And he’s like, ‘oh, you could maybe you come out and you have black light body paints on? You can kind of be like the Black version of Jeff Hardy?’ And I said ‘what are you talking about!? Coming out painting myself glowed in the dark!? THAT’S STUPID!? Why would anyone ever do that!?”
Kofi Kingston would then reveal that he might’ve made a mistake when he saw how great Naomi’s entrance actually was. “I’m like ‘this could be the best entrance on the roster’ right? I look back at it now and I think like maybe I should have embraced it! What you (Naomi) are doing is probably what they were talking about.”
“But if they described it to me in a better way than being the ‘black version of Jeff Hardy?’ I might have like got into it!” Kofi would finish.
Former WWE personality and booker Jim Cornette recently commented on the Dexter Lumis injury from a recent episode of NXT. In a triple threat match with Finn Balor and Timothy Thatcher, Lumis would suffer from a ‘Osteochondral Lesion of the Talus.’ Or in layman’s terms, an ankle injury.
The injury occurred during the spot where Lumis flipped out of the ring between his opponents for a stare-down. The spot had to be filmed twice and the edit does not actually show Lumis landing from the flip itself.
Jim Cornette would be critical of the ‘stunt,’ mainly because he felt that the “risk-reward ratio” didn’t warrant such a throwaway spot during a televised match. With the injury, Lumis has now been pulled from the NXT Takeover XXX North American Championship ladder match.
Jim Cornette on Dexter Lumis
“It’s not just me saying ‘f*ck all the new guys and this is stupid'” Cornette began on his Experience podcast. “This is business and this is common sense.”
“I understand guys wanting to do different things to get over. Everybody wants to get over, to get over on TV, get over with the office. Get over with the booker or get over with the writers/creative team and get over with the fans” Jim Cornette continued. “Everybody wants to get over, and to get over you have to do different things and things that other people don’t do. You have to look impressive and make an impression.”
Cornette would then discuss how performers now need to work ‘smarter, not harder.’ “Get over smarter, not harder. The risk reward ratio of something like that for that spot in an empty arena television match? If he had nailed it and the camera had not cut through the whole thing and you saw he obviously did it? You would have said ‘wow, holy sh*t that was a heck of a flip.'”
“But the whole idea was not for him to wipe out his opponents” Cornette would continue. “Just a flip and stand in the middle of them to freak them out. And for that? He [Lumis] dove headfirst toward a concrete floor, padded, but he risked blowing out his knees, his ankles, his f*cking crotch whatever you could blow out. Pick your spots!”
Do you agree with Jim Cornette’s assessment of Dexter Lumis’ injury? Let us know in the comments
Former WWE Superstar Rusev/Miro recently appeared on The Ryback Show podcast. The ‘Bulgarian Brute’ would discuss a number of topics from his time with the company; including his ‘Rusev Day’ run, NXT and working with John Cena.
Ryback himself referred to John Cena on the podcast, bringing up a story that involved (previously) company COO Triple H making a major claim to the The Big Guy.
Ryback on Triple H Comments
“This goes back when I was there and Hunter told me…when I was in that top position, or working in that top position; and then the contract negotiations were coming up” Ryback began on the podcast.
Ryback would then refer to arguably his biggest run with WWE, which was back in 2012. The ‘Big Guy’ was ascending the card and would eventually get a Hell In a Cell main event against then WWE Champion CM Punk.
Unfortunately, the timing was completely off. There was no chance that Ryback was going to be given the belt in October of 2012. Even though Ryback had a huge wave of momentum behind him at the time and the support of live crowds? The Rock was due to face the WWE Champion at the Royal Rumble in January, and the marquee match for that night was pencilled in with CM Punk entering as said WWE Champion.
“He (Triple H) goes, ‘Ryan,’ and he was just shooting me straight, he goes; ‘we’re never gonna have another marquee name after [John] Cena ever again. He’s the last one.” These comments seem to echo those previously made by Vince McMahon. McMahon stated that WWE’s ‘brand’ is the attraction, not the actual names on the marquee/card.
Even still, it is very enlightening to hear that one of WWE’s top brass behind the scenes believes that there won’t be another megastar in the company. With the Roman Regins experiment having seemingly failed over the last 5/6 years maybe ‘The Game’ has a point?
Do you agree with Triple H? Let us know in the comments
Former WWE Superstar Rusev/Miro recently appeared on The Ryback Show podcast. The ‘Bulgarian Brute’ would discuss a number of topics from his time with the company; including his ‘Rusev Day’ run, NXT and working with John Cena.
One of the topics brought up by the former Rusev was his idea of bringing more ‘character’ to the Rusev character. Now known as Miro, the former WWE Superstar would talk about not being stuck portraying a ‘one-dimensional’ character in the company.
Miro/Rusev on One-Dimensional Characters
“Well I always wanted to be me, I never wanted to pretend, you know?” Miro would begin on the podcast. “I mean I get it, it’s wrestling, it’s about characters. So I was the evil foreigner and very one dimensional, but I always knew I could do more.”
Miro would then say how he knew what his original Rusev character needed to be, so at the time he just portrayed the role as best he could. “But at the same time? This is my role. Great, I’ll play it through…I’ll play it perfect. But then once I had the opportunity to break out and show myself? I was just, I was ready to do it because I knew I could do more.”
“I feel like people that are multi-dimensional have a lot more longevity” Miro would continue. “[Especially] a lot more than one-dimensional characters. That’s what Dream always taught me, the American Dream Dusty Rhodes. [He would say] body of work baby, body of work.”
“That’s why I wanted to give…that’s why all these characters that we (Aiden English and Lana) did through the years? There was always some kind of a change in it” Miro would finish. “It’s never just the ‘Bulgarian Brute.’ There’s always something different, which at the end of the day, the boss [Vince McMahon] didn’t like I guess!?”
Do you agree with Rusev/Miro? Let us know in the comments
IMPACT Wrestling Tag Team Champion and former TNA Champion Chris Sabin recently appeared on the Chris Van Vliet show.
Chris Sabin is one of the names synonymous with TNA’s X Division, with the former X Division Champion having appeared in the most amount of ‘Ultimate X’ matches in company history. Ultimate X would become the crown jewel of the division, with Sabin having appeared in 17 matches and winning 8.
Chris Sabin on Ultimate X
“I don’t think you can” Chris Sabin would reply, when asked how he would prepare for the Ultimate X match. “I remember the first Ultimate X match we did? They [the company] weren’t even prepared.” The first Ultimate X match took place on August 20, 2003 and saw Sabin face Michael Shane (Matt Bentley) and Frankie Kazarian.
“They put these posts…like they hadn’t had the structure set up yet” Sabin would continue. “So we went there the day before just to like see the structure, climb up on it. Make sure see how sturdy it is, just to get a feel for it. And I remember when they had recently put these posts in the corner posts, like just these long poles and they had two cables going across.”
Chris Sabin would elaborate further, saying “I remember Frankie [Kazarian] climbed up and grabbed down in the middle and tried to hang on it. And then those posts? They just kind of bent in, like, ‘oh no what are we going to do!?’ So they were scrambling to figure out a way to build a structure because they had this match advertised!”
“And then, what they finally ended up doing was using like the light trusses. They used straps to strap it to the ring posts and that ended up being strong enough” Sabin continued.
“So we didn’t even have any experience with it, we didn’t even get to climb on the structure at all, get a feel for it at all. Basically when the match happened? That was the first time we were climbing on that thing so we were just kind of hoping that this thing stays together!”
Former WCW President and WWE Executive Director of SmackDown Eric Bischoff recently appeared on AEW Dynamite. ‘Easy E’ appeared in a segment with Orange Cassidy and former AEW ‘Le Champion’ Chris Jericho.
One of the more interesting aspects of this week’s 83 Weeks podcast was Bischoff’s take on the ‘non-scripted’ elements of AEW programming. Eric Bischoff discussed on the podcast about how the concept is ‘progressive’ in an era of heavily scripted to a minutia WWE programming.
Eric Bischoff on AEW Promos
“It’s like ‘wow this is a really progressive way to go about this'” Bischoff began, discussing the promo styling of AEW. “Let’s not have writers. Because we’ve all been, conditioned now over the last how many years to talk about creative and writers from the perspective of almost a traditional television show. Or a traditional scripted television show.”
Bischoff would elaborate further, discussing how WWE have completely changed the production and scripting style of a ‘pro wrestling’ show. In the past, WWE would have a minimal amount of talent writing the show (McMahon, Patterson, Prichard, Russo et al). Whereas over the past decade they’ve introduced a slew of writers to the television format.
“We’ve got producers, we’ve got writers, we’ve got directors now. Not that they didn’t exist before, but in wrestling we call them different things. But the process for professional wrestling has evolved/changed. Evolved or devolved, depending on your perspective, to the point where everything has become so scripted that we expect that’s the way it’s going to be. But now AEW is approaching it differently.”
‘Conceptualizing’ The Show
Bischoff would also discuss how AEW ‘conceptualizes’ the product, giving their talent freedom structure promos and interviews in their ‘own’ way. “They’re spending the week writing the show or conceptualizing the show. I don’t even want to say writing it because they’re probably putting it together differently than obviously a WWE would; in terms of reducing everything to paper and approving every little comment period and quotation mark. All those other silly things that people waste time on…in some places.”
“But here you know it’s a collaboration” Bischoff continued. “And they probably, I’m guessing, I didn’t talk to Cody about this, so I have no insight at all. But I’m guessing? They’ve got a pretty good outline and blueprint of what they want to do for the show, because you have to plan, you have to ‘time’ your show.”
Do you feel that the promo styling in AEW is greater than WWE’s currently? Let us know in the comments
Former WCW President and WWE Executive Director of SmackDown Eric Bischoff recently appeared on AEW Dynamite. ‘Easy E’ appeared in a segment with Orange Cassidy and former AEW ‘Le Champion’ Chris Jericho.
One of the more interesting aspects of this week’s 83 Weeks podcast was Bischoff’s take on Tony Khan. Eric Bischoff and Tony Khan have previously had heated words online but after a recent Patreon-exclusive podcast the two are now on amicable terms, at least publicly.
“That was really interesting. Now, you know I got to meet Tony [Khan] because of you (co-host Conrad Thompson). You put us together to do a thing on Patreon” Eric Bischoff would begin on 83 Weeks.
Eric Bischoff on Tony Khan
“I enjoyed talking to him then. But when I was backstage, and it was most noticeable for me… I hope Tony doesn’t mind me sharing this! I doubt that he would, but in case you do Tony I apologize” Bischoff continued.
Bischoff would then discuss the time just before he appeared for the segment on AEW Dynamite. “But while I was getting ready to go out? We’ll call it in the ‘gorilla position,’ but when I was standing backstage? Ready to be introduced for the segment? I was within earshot of Tony when he was at at the gorilla position and on monitors.”
“I couldn’t help overhear Tony” Bischoff would elaborate. “[He was] talking to probably Keith Mitchell in the truck or somebody in the truck. I’m assuming it was Keith. Tony’s…into this. Tony’s the guy with the chequebook who’s a big fan who’s ALSO a good producer. And more importantly, loves producing.”
Bischoff would finish by praising Khan further, saying “It is his passion in the product. He’s obviously a very intelligent and experienced businessman so check those boxes. But when you have passion, and you like producing and you’re willing to grab it by the balls? As opposed to putting someone else in that position and hoping that they’re going to do the work that you want them to do? Therein lies the magic. By the way, that’s what I did to a large degree, that’s a mistake that I made in WCW.”
Do you feel that AEW has had a good run in terms of production over their short tenure? Do you agree with Eric Bischoff? Let us know in the comments
Former WWE backstage employee Jim Cornette recently weighed in on the RAW Underground segment that took place this past Monday night. The former booker of Smokey Mountain Wrestling talked about the new concept on this week’s Jim Cornette Experience podcast.
Jim Cornette on RAW Underground
“The WWE as a company, why do they go out of their way to tell us it’s all fake and it’s all entertainment?” Jim Cornette began on the show. “It’s all scripted and they’re playing characters and all the other things they say. AND THEN every time they try to juice things up? Or get interest or sell tickets? Or plug a big pay per view, back in the day? Now it’s just get the ratings up for the rights fees or whatever, they try to do something that’s purportedly ‘real’? Because everybody knows that’ll sell more tickets.”
Cornette would then lay into WWE’s presentation of ‘real’ fighting, saying “and then they don’t know how to make it look real! When there ARE ways that you can make this shit look real.”
“So this logic…not only the whole industry now, but the WWE in specific? It drives me completely batsh*t bonkers out of my f*cking mind” Cornette continued. “They go out of their way to tell us it’s fake, except when they need to draw money!? And then they, along with everybody else, acknowledge and recognise that the things that draw money are the things that people believe are real. So they try to do worked real sh*t, and don’t make it look real!”
Do you agree with Jim Cornette? Let us know in the comments
Former WCW President and Executive Director of SmackDown Eric Bischoff recently discussed his former colleague Paul Heyman’s near signing with TNA back in 2009 into 2010.
Bischoff commented on Heyman nearly taking ‘control’ on the company on his 83 Weeks podcast, saying that there was ‘no way’ it would’ve happened.
Eric Bischoff on Paul Heyman
“I think it’s a fantasy” Bischoff began on the podcast, describing how Heyman reportedly wanted to have a Dana White style role within TNA. This would’ve meant that Heyman had a majority holding in the company and that could essentially do ‘what he wanted;’ somewhat like the owner of UFC, the aforementioned Dana White. “I do believe, based on what Dave (Meltzer) wrote in that excerpt that you (co-host Conrad Thompson) just read? That Dave was probably talking directly to Paul Heyman.”
Bischoff elaborated further, saying “much of that position sounds very much like Paul Hayman’s voice. So I think that was probably a direct quote or close to it from Heyman to Meltzer. That being said, No way in hell that was going to happen. Number one it wouldn’t have made any difference, you know?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w6nWW9ksD8
The Carters
Bischoff also shed some light on how much equity Paul Heyman could have received had he joined TNA. He also said you’d have to be taking hallucinogenic drugs to think the Carter family was going to hand over control of their $40 million investment to Paul Heyman.
“Paul would have had five points in a company or 10 points in a company. Unless you’re a majority shareholder in a private company? Somebody has to be the majority decision, that was never going to be Paul Heyman in any scenario.”
“There’s just not enough mushrooms that you can dry and feast on and hallucinate enough to try to imagine a scenario where the Carters were going to give Paul Heyman control over there” Bischoff continued. “And it was rumoured to be at some point a $35 or $40 million investment in TNA [from the Carters].”
He continued, “I don’t know if that number is accurate but if it’s even close? To imagine a scenario where the Carters, who didn’t know Paul Heyman, and probably didn’t know much about Paul Heyman other than what Dixie told him and what they could read on a dirt sheet site? There’s no way that they were going to give him control. They wouldn’t give Dixie control of the company for God’s sake, why would they give it to Paul Heyman!?”
Do you agree with Bischoff? Let us know in the comments
AEW on-air personalities Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard recently appeared on Chris Jericho’s Talk Is Jericho podcast.
This episode of Talk Is Jericho saw the iconic duo appear on a podcast together for the first time ever. Tully and Arn would discuss a number of topics from their time together in the ring as well as the current crop of stars appearing on All Elite Wrestling.
One of the questions posed by Jericho revolved around the FTR tag team. Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler have made it abundantly clear in the past that they model themselves after Tully and Arn, but Jericho wanted to know what Arn Anderson saw in the former WWE tag team that set them apart from the rest of pack.
Arn Anderson on FTR
“I think it was an absolute effort on their part to pattern ourselves after our style” Arn Anderson began on the podcast. “But I also saw that they took the concept of, whatever it may be. Sucker punching a guy and making them chase you, then rolling back in [the ring] and getting the referee’s back turned to your opponent. [Followed by] A tag he doesn’t see, the other guy steps in from behind and ploughs him. That kind of psychology, but they put their tweak on it.”
Arn Anderson would then hugely praise Harwood and Wheeler, saying “you know they’re…they’re a hell of a lot; I don’t know if you notice, they’re a hell of a lot more athletic than you [Tully] and me were! But, it’s the same concept, they truly are [like we were]. They give you, at the end of the day, they’re a team that knows what their partner’s doing at all times. That’s what makes a great team I think.”
Do you agree with The Enforcer? Let us know in the comments
WWE Hall of Famer and co-host of SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio Bully Ray recently commented on Shayna Baszler’s status in WWE.
The tag team legend talked about how Baszler has been ‘misused’ by the company as of late. This seems especially true since her WrestleMania loss against Becky Lynch. Bully Ray would indicate that he felt WWE need to ‘rebuild’ Baszler’s character, and make her the bad ass she represented whilst in NXT.
Bully Ray on Shayna Baszler
“I don’t want to see Shayna Baszler right now in a competitive match” Bully Ray began on the show. “You know what I would have done with Shayna Baszler on Monday night? I would have had Shayna Baszler pop Sasha Banks in the mouth backstage.”
“I would then have had her come to the ring, I would have had Shayna Baszler beat the sh*t out of Sasha Banks, beat the shit out of Bayley. Then? Take both of their championships and hold them in the air.”
“Because they [WWE] need to rebuild Shayna little bit” Bully Ray continued. “I need Shayna Baszler to be that bad mother trucker that she’s supposed to be, not having a competitive wrestling match. I don’t care about her having a competitive wrestling match right now.”
Bully would then compare Baszler’s past character to that of Brock Lesnar. “This woman Shayna Baszler is supposed to be like a killer, like a Brock [Lesnar]. I mean stop me if I’m wrong. Shayna Baszler, the girl that hit the back of that neck of Becky Lynch; this wild rabid animal who can break you, snap your arm, and bite the back of your neck, just poke your eye out and destroy you. Have her do that to those other two girls (Sasha and Bayley), let’s reestablish her.”
Ray would elaborate further, saying “let’s turn her into this menace to the women’s division. Let’s turn her into this loose cannon, snap Sasha’s arm, snap Bayley’s arm, take both of their championships. If you’re going to get somebody over, let’s really get them over. Let’s strap a rocket to their back and shoot them to the moon.”
Do you agree with Bully? Let us know in the comments
Former WWE Agent Arn Anderson recently discussed WWE’s penchant for shorter television matches in the modern era. Whilst Anderson did talk about the lengthier bouts that go over two segments on the ARN podcast; Anderson also revealed exactly why WWE tries to keep a big proportion of their televised matches as short as possible.
“Whoever did their research, and I put that in parentheses” Arn Anderson began on the show. “Whoever took their polls and did all that behind the scenes stuff that they need 100 people working for the company to come up with? They figured out a six minute time span. That’s about all the audience’s good for, then they’re ready to switch channels.”
Arn Anderson on Six Minutes
“Well, that that six minute thing? Well that looks good, until you take entrances out of that six minutes. And then you take exit time, aftermath, posing in the ring…that’s another minute. So if I did my math right that six minutes now became what? Three minutes, right? We’re back to that time, that three minute deal.”
Anderson would then talk about why a three minute match is detrimental to the talent themselves. “And the thing about it is, when you give every match six minutes because that’s the brilliant thing that you came up through all your research? When you have every match go six minutes? Then it starts to look pretty uniform, and it’s a bunch of matches that don’t have enough time, except ding ding ding hurry hurry hurry. Then run through a couple spots and get your finish. There’s no story there.”
Arn would finish by saying how even the longer matches on the show are devalued because the talent are being overexposed on RAW and SmackDown. “And some of those guys that are getting the two segment matches later on in the show? When those guys have already been seen twice during the show, and then you give them the two segments, it’s probably too much exposure.”
Do you agree with The Enforcer Arn Anderson? Let us know in the comments
Pro wrestling personality and former TNA backstage employee Jim Cornette recently discussed Dixie Carter and her influence on the TNA product. Cornette was responding to recent comments from WWE Superstar AJ Styles on his Drive Thru podcast.
AJ Styles stated “Do I believe Dixie ruined IMPACT? Well, it was TNA back then, and 100%. IMPACT, there was a time when it was really gaining ground. The problem was, Dixie wanted to be WWE-lite and that’s not what people wanted. They wanted to see something else. All she had to do was let us do what we do, it was really that simple. Had she left it to the writers, I think TNA would still be around and be bigger than what they are, but not knowing what’s best for business? She hurt TNA”
Jim Cornette on Dixie Carter
“Dixie had talent she liked” Jim Cornette began on the Drive Thru. “And I’m not saying that in an inappropriate way. She thought that Hernandez, and she was correct in this, should be a Latino Mexican superstar at one point. I fully agreed with that.”
Cornette would then elaborate further on this, blaming Vince Russo for ‘destroying’ the potential they had with LAX member Hernandez. “Unfortunately for Hernandez? She’d [Dixie] picked an idiot to write her show [Vince Russo] who didn’t know how to get that guy over. And when I left? That was the end of that [Hernandez’s run], because he [Russo] didn’t understand it.”
Jim Cornette would then blame Dixie Carter for bringing in Vince Russo to oversee the writing of the product, thus somewhat agreeing with AJ Styles. “Dixie was responsible for creative in terms of who she hired to be in charge of it. And Jeff Jarrett to his credit, while he was there was able to balance most of the bullsh*t out with actual sh*t that made sense. OR, wouldn’t harm talent when you presented him with a better way to do it.”
“Dixie may have sat in on a few production meetings, not that many” Jim Cornette would continue. “Sometimes she wasn’t there at television and other times she would get there right before taping started. She’d be flying in from somewhere, she’d get there just in time to get her makeup done to go out in front of the fans and take post pictures holding the TNA title belt. But if you had a creative question, or if I did? I went to Jeff Jarrett.”
Do you agree with Cornette’s assessment? Let us know in the comments
AEW star MJF recently appeared on SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio show. The ‘Salt of The Earth’ appeared on the show to discuss his ongoing role with All Elite Wrestling, including how he feels the show stacks up to the competition.
“It makes my job a lot harder” MJF began on the show, discussing the move daredevil aspects of his peers’ style and how he perceives that AEW President Tony Khan ‘prefers’ that version of pro wrestling for AEW to his own mat-based offense. “The issue at hand that I would say is this: If you do that eventually you’re going to jump the shark.”
MJF on Hardcore Wrestling
“And what I mean by that is this,” MJF continued. “If we go out there every week and we bump into thumb tacks. If we go out there every week and we are chewing on panes of glass? What if we go out there every week and we get hit by cars? What if we go out there every week and we’re hitting each other over the head with kendo sticks? For the first couple of times? It’s great.”
MJF elaborated on this point further, “here’s a great analogy. If an elephant takes a giant sh*t on your neighbor’s yard? In the morning you open the door and you see it and you go, ‘Whoa, that’s crazy. That elephant just took a huge dump in my neighbor’s yard!?’ And then the next day the elephant shows up and does it again. ‘Whoa, that’s pretty nuts!’ And then the next day the elephant shows up. o’h, okay, the elephants here again.’ And then the next day and the next day and the next day. Eventually you’re gonna go, ‘here’s that stupid freakin elephant again.'”
The top ranked AEW star would finish by saying how he wants to bring a different element to AEW’s presentation. “That’s what’s happening here and that’s what I don’t want to happen. And that’s why it’s so important to give our fans different flavors of ice cream, and that’s all I’m offering. I’m the flavor maker baby!”
Do you agree with MJF’s analogy? Let us know in the comments
Former WWE Superstar and 205 Live Cruiserweight Champion Enzo Amore/nZo recently appeared on SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio to discuss a number of topics from his recent career in and out of a pro wrestling ring.
Enzo Amore would bring up the fact that it has been a while since he has had a ‘major’ run in a wrestling company. The former WWE Superstar did appear at the ‘Talk n Shop-a-Mania’ show this past weekend, but his appearances in general have thus far been sparse.
Enzo Amore on ‘monumental plans’
“You know Big Cass’ trials and tribulations? You know like they…they way down, you know?” Enzo Amore began on the show. “A lot of what it is that I wanted to achieve in pro wrestling at that time and where my head was at? We were planning on doing together, as opposed to now ‘okay Eric you’re on your own again. What are you going to do? how do you see yourself getting involved in the forefront?'”
Amore would then reveal that he has ‘monumental’ plans in the pipeline for when he does return to pro wrestling. “I can say like as far as pro wrestling goes? I’m working out some things right now that are f*cking monumental. Things that the world is not gonna see coming from a million miles away. Something that I’m working on that’s going to be very unique, that I just can’t give any details about.”
“And I don’t want to blow any smoke up anybody’s a**” Enzo continued. “But we’ll see what happens…when it happens. Bottom line is, wrestling is a part of me. But, I couldn’t bring myself in this present climate to get out there in front of no fans. I don’t want to say rest assured, but I can almost guarantee to you that you won’t see me pop up unless there’s a big ass crowd there, because I’m out.”
AEW star MJF recently appeared on SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio show. The ‘Salt of The Earth’ appeared on the show to discuss his ongoing role with All Elite Wrestling, specifically his recent promo on AEW Dynamite where he called out AEW Champion Jon Moxley.
During said promo, MJF stated that he would be wrestling for AEW for “another 25 years.” Maxwell Jacob Friedman clarified those statements on Busted Open, comparing his career trajectory to that of Chris Jericho.
MJF on Chris Jericho
“That’s just accurate, nothing, nothing that came out of my mouth wasn’t something that I hold true” MJF began on the show. “There was no hyperbole, it was just all facts. I said, ‘grab a calculator’ because in fact, right now? Who’s one of the top stars in pro wrestling? The guy’s name is Chris Jericho, my hat’s off to him. The man’s 49.”
“In 25 years from now? I will be 49” MJF continued. “So that is why I was so comfortable saying that, and to be honest with the way I wrestle? My style? I’m probably going to be able to wrestle till I’m 70 on top. Because I’m not being an idiot.”
MJF would elaborate on this further, saying this his in-ring style is not the ‘car-crash’ that his peers appear to have adopted. “I’m not doing what everyone else in my generation is doing; which is succumbing to this car-crash style that ‘Dictator Jon [Moxley]’ wants us to succumb to. I’m not going to jump into that style, because I want to make sure that I am helping our company. I want to help them go from being the alternative, I’m not saying I want to monopolise professional wrestling, that didn’t come out of my mouth. What I am saying, though? Is I want AEW to be number one, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”
Do you think that MJF will be a major star for at least the next 25 years? Let us know in the comments
Former WWE Superstar and 205 Live Cruiserweight Champion Enzo Amore/nZo recently appeared on SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio to discuss a number of topics from his recent career in and out of a pro wrestling ring.
One of the topics discussed was the now infamous Madison Square Garden incident from WrestleMania weekend in 2019. Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling were hosting the co-brand G1 Supercard event from MSG when Enzo and Big Cass jumped the rail and attacked Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa and The Briscoes.
Co-host of Busted Open Bully Ray was also part of the ‘angle,’ although Enzo would claim that it was a “real fight.” Only a select number of people within ROH knew about the angle, with the company trying to ‘work the boys’ and create some buzz for the promotion.
Enzo Amore on Canned Angle
“No one got on the phone after and said ‘that was a great job'” Enzo would reveal on Busted Open. Enzo would then also discuss how a small minority of fans ‘scared’ ROH online, leading the angle to be ixnayed. “They [ROH] just said, ‘oh sh*t, we f*cked up. No, you didn’t you idiots.”
Enzo would then launch straight into ROH management, saying how they completely ruined what could’ve been a hugely lucrative angle for the promotion. “This was the biggest f*cking…you (ROH) have never in your entire wrestling existence as a promotion been spoken about more! You just dropped the ball like, I had never seen anything like it in my life. I have never seen such sh*t. I could have talked Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa and the f*cking Briscoes…TWO PROMOTIONS INTO MADISON SQUARE GARDEN. AGAIN!”
“When you do that? And you don’t follow through with it? You leave such a sour taste in my mouth” Enzo would finish. “And when I walk away? I go, ‘this is what the f*cking indie promotions are like? This is what wrestling IS outside of WWE? People can’t take a joke, you know!? I hope you take d*ck better than you take a joke.”
Do you think that ROH missed out on a major angle here? Let us know in the comments
AEW star MJF recently appeared on SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio show. The ‘Salt of The Earth’ appeared on the show to discuss his ongoing role with All Elite Wrestling, specifically his recent promo on AEW Dynamite where he called out AEW Champion Jon Moxley.
Busted Open co-host Bully Ray asked Maxwell Jacob Friedman how he felt being relegated to the ‘sidelines’ of the show over the past couple of months. MJF has not been a prominent figure on AEW programming really since the COVID-19 pandemic forced the company to film exclusively from Jacksonville.
MJF on The ‘Sidelines’
“You know what, it might be okay for somebody else on the roster to be on the sideline? But it’s not okay for me, I am the franchise player” MJF began on Busted Open. “I’m the guy who boasts on the microphone and in the ring, I’m a once in a lifetime professional wrestler.”
“I’m something that people are never going to get to see again” MJF would continue. “So no it wasn’t okay [that I was sidelined], and that’s why I wanted to make perfectly clear. The reason I was on that sideline? Is because certain people in our company don’t want to give up their spot. And that’s fine. You don’t want to give up your spot? I’ll take yours if that’s what I have to do.”
Feud With Jon Moxley?
MJF would then discuss his recent promo on Dynamite directly, “that’s precisely what I did this week [on Dynamite]. So, the auditory speech that I gave? It will go down in history as a career defining moment, and as a defining moment in the history of All Elite Wrestling. Because what I did was a real paradigm shift, not a fake one. I caused a real paradigm shift. I wasn’t a guy who was a top guy elsewhere, I’m a guy who BECAME a top guy inside of my company, a company that I’m so proud to be a part of.”
MJF would finish by saying how dedicated he is to the AEW brand. “Like I said, I bleed black white and gold. I’m not leaving. This is a place I’m going to stay in and make better. And that’s why it’s so important to me to be spotlighted, front and centre. Because I know when I’m on the TV screen? We ain’t losing viewers. And it’s very important to me.”
Do you think that MJF will get an AEW Championship match at All Out on September 5th? Let us know in the comments
