PeterHilton

I'm sure you're right. Dixie's not the sharpest crayon in the box, but she's not that bad.

I've read the taping results,and there was only one RETURN. I sincerely hope that is not what they're hyping and that it is some other segment or announcement.

Yeah...maybe the ownership decided that there was no way Deron was coming back? But then why not wait and get a better offer? If you wait til the end of the season, I think Orlando and Dallas (at least) would break the bank to land a big time PG. ANd if they had decided to move Williams, then maybe it does make sense that Jerry leaves, because he's probably not in the mood to rebuild again, which is what this looks like it might be: they're blowing up the team and starting over

Odd trade. I know that Deron was coming up on being a FA, and Devin sort of replaces him...but then you add Derrick Favorswho has been both unimpressive and a rookie and plays the same position as Paul Milsap and Al Jefferson. Just...odd.

I can't disagree with anything youve said. Spot on, basically. But because the E is publicly traded, because they got into the nasty habit of paying out dividends even when they didn't need to (which created certain expectations in their fanbase), and because they've been slow to take advantage of media outside of TV, they're tied to the PPV model for the foreseeable future.

"We're going to lose money either way" probaby isn't the kind of financial analysis that the shareholders are looking for. It's probably just a smoke screen, but when you have three bad quarters in a row, it's fairly reasonable that you respond by doing everything possible to hit a homerun with your biggest, most profitable, most visible, and most well known PPV

wocka wocka wocka

Feel free to criticize. I think it's totally fair. And for all we know plans leading into tis years WM was for Triple H to face Sheamus in a bloody brawl and for Taker to make Barrett look like a million bucks ala Randy Orton a few years back. But the WWE is responding to a string of bad financial reports, they've brought back some Attitude Era stars to help boost viewers, and WM is the one PPV that absolutely NEEDS to be a giant success and Taker/Triple H at the top of the card would help (plus..as amp pointed out...Barrett and Sheamus haven't exactly blown up) IMO grabbing Sting would've been about 100 times better because I personally have zero interes in Hunter/Taker but that's the logic. I thnk it's a reach but I'm sure that's how it'll be written

Probably not. Your idea makes sense and would be a logical extension of the current and past storylines. Unfortunately it would also leave two of the company's biggest names facing off against two realitively unknown commodities on the biggest show of the year. So throw out storyline consideration; this is a grab for ratings and buy rates and nothing more.

How is that definition different than 'cookie cutter'?

I agree and disagree on parts of this, but I side with the direction you're coming from Over-all, I just think the talent process has eliminated alot of individuality and true originality. It's a cookie cutter structure that creates cookie cutter workers.

Depends on the build. I think quite a few fans dug the original Nexus group in a snarky "this is a young talented heel stable" kind of way and Gabriel/Slater w/Barrett in their corner would get quite a few supporters in a match against whatever 'new' members of Nexus would be thrown out there. I really don't see it as being a bad possibility and at least a match wrapped around "Nexus bragging rights" would have some type of storyline.

IIRC last year the titles were defended in by ShowMiz against RTruth and Morrison in a short, thrown together at the last second, opening match that literally did nothing for anyone involved. "No one would care" isn't relly a reason for that match not to happen

The probelme with the Sheamus push WAS that he only took out jobbers. If he'd beaten up a bunch of nobodies, and then followed that upby cleanly pinning ANYONE in the main event scene, he'd have been cemented as a legit top of the card guy. But he got a bunch of fluke wins over Cena, cheated over and over (even though he was supposed to be a monster heel) , and then repeated that process against Orton. Other than Trips, he didn't get a clean win over an established main eventer, then struggled through some midcard feud with Morrison. And now that Trips is back, with no mention of the fact that Sheamus was the one who put him out, his push of last year is pretty muh pointless. Now...that is just the write up for Sheamus...but amp is right: the reason the WWE is struggling with their main event is because they haven't really established any main event level stars since Hardy/Punk (and even Punk has been treated a little iffy since then). And...(and this is one I tend to harp on) their talent evaluation and development hasn't worked out the way they hoped.

You're making lots of assumptions here... --I'm not talking about contracts. I'm saying Love is better than Bosh straight up, regardless of what they're paid. --You're saying that Bosh put up huge numbers on bad teams, but even in Toronto, he never rebounded at the level Love is now. And you dismiss that outside shooting thing like it's nothing but look at that more closely: he shoots 47% from the field because he takes so many threes. But if you adjust for the fact that a 3 point shot is worth more, his 'true shooting percentage' (TFG) is almost 60% (.595) To put that in context, that's the same percentage Kevin Durant is shooting through the All Star Break --"Put him in a decent team and hes a 14 point 12 rebound player that still plays horrid man defense because of his slow feet." Soooo...a 14 and 12 guy? On a title contender? Those would be excellent numbers. Plus he can shoot from the outside, he's a great passer, and he's better than average at the line? And the only negative is that he's not a great athlete and he's better as a team defender than on his own? You're describing a more productive Robert Horry. Or a less-likely-to-get-thrown-out-of-a-game Bill Laimbeer I don't think Love is an elite Top 5 talent, but he would be a huge contributer on a title team and I don't hink Bosh can. He puts up soft numbers and disappears when it counts.

It would be hard to prove. I think in either case, they net fans tends to be the 'vocal minority.' And in both cases, they ( the net fans )wrongly assume - as you've stated in the past - that the majority of 'casual' fans feel the way they do. Fair enough. I just use it as an example because they are forms of entertainment. No. Neither do I. I just think - and again this would be hard to prove - is that the TNA audience has a larger percentage of "internet wrestling nerds" than the WWE does. So it's easier for those fans who are happily entertained by what TNA does to be drowned out by the complaining of those who pick apart every segment.

Maybe. Joe had an epic run in ROH... BUt to be fair let's say they expect him to "earn his way to the top." That's not the same as "they wouldn't pay to see him" which is what that article was claiming; that the booking on Impact was so bad that TNA stars were literally losing indy dates. And I doubt that. Which was my point.

Regarding your rant I totally disagree. If you go to music or movie or TV or sports websites and fan forums, you get the exact same kind of feedback. The more invested/hardcore the fan, the more likely you are to hear that kind of analysis and negativity EDIT: keep in mind, I wrote an NFL column for 411mania and have written for Walterfootball; so I have first hand experience on that sports deal. I was physically threatened on a weekly basis lol. Just go to any SEC fan fourm: the amount of time spent breaking down the most minute of details and the over-all sense of " nothing makes me happy" completely blows wrestling sites out of the water And again - to be fair - TNA tends to attract a much larger percentage of the snarky smart fans. WWE makes it's living on the mainstream, so realistically as much as smart fans complain, they aren't who the E is marketing to. Not so with TNA; they try to go after the net fans, so they are going to get more negative feedback because they care so much what the IWC thinks

Probably not. I don't think they completely disregard it and I think a lot of it has to do with that talent's particular reputation to begin with. The example the article gaveof Samoa Joe, for instance: I thnk it's ridiculous to think there's less demand for Joe on the indy based on his TNA run. If he left TNA today he'd be a headliner for ROH (or PWG etc) the instant he set foot in their ring. After all, the same thing happened with Daniels and I don'tthink his TNA run was expecially noteworthy. So what I'm saying is: Indy fans probably DO care about TNAs booking. But they probably DON'T care enough to not go to an event

Yup For the most part, the same fans who will go to an indy are EXACTLY the same fans that wil tear apart a TV show based on smarky ideas like 'work rate.' So while I agree that a lot of indy goers will just disregard TNA's booking, I also think it's definitely something they notice.

The short answer is "yes" but no one rally knows how long the contracts are. Plus, I'm sure every indy guy who goes there hopes to make it big and become a TNA star (although god knows how long it's been since TNAmade an indy guy a main event level star) And (and this is the bit about the article i dont really believe) I guess some people are claiming that being poorly booked by TNA decreases their value..but its hard for me to think that Samoa Joe (the example they used) isn't still in demand by indy groups now, despite the relative misuse by TNA

Agree with jbergey and with what lazorbeak is putting here. I say this roughly every 6th post, but the WWE has spent so much time attempting to eliminate the 'unpredictability' of the talent development process, that they've also cut out a good bit of the raw creativity. There's no place to work up the ranks, they try to avoid hiring indy workers unless they fall into strict 'WWE guidelines' ...maybe the hiring of Mistico is a sign of things to come where the only 'proven commodiities' they will work to aquire will be stars from other countries.

Didn't we do this argument a few months back? Based on a report written on the exact same site? And the TNA defenders used the old "hey we can't believe anything written on the internet because we have no proof" deal? Just wanted to be sure before this ball gets rolling again... I think TNA is right to assume that they are adding value to their talent. I'm sure there are quite a few guys on that aroster that would get bookings based solely on their TV appearances for TNA. But if you hinder the process, or make it so costly that other promoters won't bother, and then pay so little that even working TNA's vaunted "house show circuit" doesn't leave you with a livable wage, then being a part of the TNA roster really is worthless.

While that is certainly true, it's never stopped TNA from doing it in the past.

Speaking of rumours: followed shortly by So a delay in the court date, but a possible plea deal? Maybe the plea includes no jail time, which is why TNA pulled the trigger?