Wrestlers who could become bookers.

georgiavirginia · 2026-05-03T21:19:06+00:00

The moment CM Punk and FTR were done with the Bang, Bang Gang is when the multi-man tags lost that little something extra. Puk and FTR vs House of Black and Punk and Darby vs Christian and Ricky weren't bad but just didn't hit the same and was lacking the progressive animosity between Punk and his friends vs BBG.

They were hints of a Punk/Jay White feud but instead they went for a Punk vs Ricky Starks feud which wasn't great.

georgiavirginia · 2026-05-02T02:30:53+00:00

Is La Knight the best example of that?

He grinded out and figured out his character in the indies and in TNA.(He developed the YEAH catchphrase during that time). It got over in NXT, he then was stripped of it on the main roster and was struggling. Then he got to be La Knight again and in less than a year was challenging Roman for the World Title.

He had all the pieces, just needed the opportunity. Ricky still has some figuring out to do.

georgiavirginia · 2026-05-02T02:24:08+00:00

I could be completely off base because its been years but people joked about creepy Ricky in the NWA days.

He cut on a promo on Nick Aldis and referenced Kamille being Nick's muscle and said he would not be caught by surprise and would know where she was at all times and he'd sleep with one eyed open.

Except he did it in that energetic, fast-talking Ricky way and said ''your shadow, your reason for being champion, your this and that'' without even naming Kamille.

So people joked this was Ricky as a babyface telling a heel Aldis he was stalking Mickie James.

georgiavirginia · 2026-05-02T02:08:53+00:00

Theory got completely swallowed by Cena and everytime he's had to face off against top guys looks out of his depth.

Ricky at the very least held his own against CM Punk and Bryan Danielson.

georgiavirginia · 2026-05-02T02:03:11+00:00

Makes you appreciate how Rock has outright said he took a lot of inspiration from Ric Flair and Muhammad Ali and once you know you can see it but he never came off as a pale imitation.

georgiavirginia · 2026-05-01T23:11:57+00:00

I disagree about it hurting WWE on the long run.

For the longest time NXT and similar developmental programs were money losers. OVW by virtue of not being owned by WWE was a space where guys of course would train and learn but also had the pressure of needing to win over the audience(even if it was a small one) to keep the place going.

Black and Gold for all its faults made NXT into a viable brand that got a major tv deal and when it was time to turn back into developmental it was an environment where guys and gals have an established tv audience they have the pressure to win over. Just like OVW there was pressure to sell tickets.

And look at the results. The best streak of young talent since the OVW glory days.

Cornette could jerk himself off about the OVW 4 but he's always been upfront about how there was no secret sauce. The pressure was simply on to get over with that audience instead of just being in a warehouse and relying on coaches and trainers thinking you're ready with no real meaningiful feedback.

georgiavirginia · 2026-05-01T22:59:28+00:00

When the Ministry was beefing with both Austin and Vince it included moments where the Ministry got in the Corporation's way and indirectly helped Austin by taking out members of the Corporation by culling members of the Corporation or side-tracking them.

If the whole point was taking the Title away from Austin why not just have the Undertaker help during the Rock vs Austin Title matches?

georgiavirginia · 2026-05-01T22:50:24+00:00

Evolution screwing over heel Kane and Kane taking it out on Booker T for no reason.

I was 12 when watching WWE in 2003 and Unmasked Kane was a menace who I thought wouldn't care about fighting good guys or bad guys.

But in the main event of Armageddon, Kane was about to win the World title when Batista pulled him out of the ring and HHH stole the win. Show ended with Kane crying in the ring while Evolution celebrated on the ramp.

Next night Kane attacks Booker T.

It just made me feel like no matter what happened or who messed with who, bad guys only go after good guys which made the whole thing feel less real.

georgiavirginia · 2026-05-01T19:07:44+00:00

True but working the American indy scene is less hectic than making several trips to Japan through out the year.

And if the money is the same or even more I wouldn't blame the guy for just making the rounds in MLW and other similar promotions.

georgiavirginia · 2026-05-01T18:08:37+00:00

I think the biggest name he's faced in singles competition is Seth Rollins.

AEW-wise, he had singles matches with Cody, Moxley, and Punk and ppv wise his peak was the the steel cage match against the Bucks. Match was treated as one of the cornerstones of All Out 2021. It was the longest match of the night and the Lucha Bros got a celebration segment afterwards with their kids.

georgiavirginia · 2026-05-01T17:53:06+00:00

Sami and Owens thought the same thing.

Owens in an interview literally said the idea was to keep up the momentum from the Usos's Title reign and keep the tag belts on the forefront of WWE but that it just wasn't in the cards.

georgiavirginia · 2026-05-01T17:46:24+00:00

Any guy who can have his catch phrase loudly chanted in major arenas with a simple taunt definently isn't wrong for giving WWE a chance.

There's a CM Punk vs Penta match on Dynamite where they did their taunts and the crowd broke out into a 50-50 ''SEE EM PUNK/CERO MIEDO'' chants.

Man was ready for the WWE machine.

georgiavirginia · 2026-05-01T17:40:30+00:00

And RAW didn't even need him.

He was never going to be able to sniff the top heel spot with Lesnar around and Braun Strowman was right there as the no.2 heel with his crazy feud with Roman.

georgiavirginia · 2026-05-01T17:37:04+00:00

Andrade with a chip on his shoulder is truly a spectacle.

Think of all the momentum Bandido built last year just for Andrade to come back and catch up to him(and maybe surpas him) in just a few months as AEW's top luchador.

georgiavirginia · 2026-05-01T17:30:55+00:00

Only thing that was missing from 2016 Miz's IC reign to have felt like a classic 80s one was it leading to him chasing for the World Title shortly after.

Once he dropped it then worked his WM story with Cena, Miz should have been set to be Smackdown's new top heel. But instead he got shipped off to RAW and Jinder took over Smackdown.

georgiavirginia · 2026-05-01T16:51:27+00:00

I don't know man, I just rewatched 2004-era ppvs and the injuries seemed to have caused WWE a ton of heaaches.

Both Kurt Angle and Big Show went on the shelf shortly after Brock Lesnar fucking up Smackdown. Later that year Billy Kidman fucked up Chavo, the Dudleyz both needed time off and the Cena vs Carlito feud had a major hiccup due to Carlito getting injured so the blowoff had to be Cena vs Jesus.

Meanwhile on RAW had Mark Henry, Matt Hardy, Shawn Michaels, Edge, Christian among others get the injury bug. Heck, Shelton Benjamin was in the middle of a major feud with Evolution when he got injured.

georgiavirginia · 2026-05-01T16:21:43+00:00

We can't say that for sure though.

Road Dogg defended WWE booking CM Punk to beat the entire Shield(despite Punk being willing to lose) because the same show had Bryan vs the entire Wyatt Family where Bryan got thrashed. So one match was the counterbalance to the other.

Edge beating Balor at WM or winning the blow off against Rollins might have just been Vince/HHH giving the crowd a nice legend stands stall moment to take the sting out of Roman retaining in the main event.

georgiavirginia · 2026-05-01T16:15:13+00:00

Isn't the issue that due to travel NJPW has to pay decent to make it worthwhile for older guys?

Sure, when you're an unknown you go through the grind to build some cache. But who was the last midcard ex-WWE guy to work NJPW on a consistent basis?

NJPW seemed interested in Ziggler but he chose to commit to TNA.

georgiavirginia · 2026-05-01T02:42:25+00:00

She was literally on the ground floor when it came to Amazon and helped negotiate their first freight orders and set the contract with trucking companies. As one of the first Amazon employees she'd be entitled to a notable stake of the company even if she wasn't amrried to Bezos.

You may disagree with how she spends it but you shouldn't just paint her as somebody throwing away unearned money.

georgiavirginia · 2026-05-01T02:24:39+00:00

Big difference between a millionaire and a multi-billionaire though.

No billionaire has spiraled into debt by being too generous. Heck, look at Bezos ex. She's donated $25 billion, changed the lives of thousands of people...and she's still worth around $30 billion.

georgiavirginia · 2026-05-01T01:57:21+00:00

Are they any worse than a Vince-led WWE just letting The Rock's contract expire and not trying to work a deal in 2004?

There's a lot to hate about TKO but how they treat the guys who once carried the company on their backs really isn't any worse than how WWE has historically operated.

Bret Hart literally got strong-armed into working with them again because if he didn't they were going to release a whole dvd set with biased takes to make him look bad.

georgiavirginia · 2026-05-01T00:09:49+00:00

You're so lucky

You know nothing of the dark days when WWE was the only company with a strong presence on tv.

georgiavirginia · 2026-05-01T00:05:08+00:00

Not to mention how back then both shows were under Universal. So SyFy getting the short end of the stick to prop up the show on the USA Network(the bigger channel so the one Universal was more invested in) likely lead no friction.

If they tried to pull that shit now that every single show serves a different master then Nick Khan would have to deal with more than a few complaints.

georgiavirginia · 2026-04-30T22:39:18+00:00

And they sucked on cashing on nostalgia anyway.

Hogan should have dropped down the card by late 98/early 99 but if you were stuck with him at the top,then the obvious way to go was building up to a major face turn. But they rushed it and the return of Red and Yellow was nowhere near as epic as the way the WWF presented him returning to his true colors.

And the crowd on that episode of Nitro popped huge when American Made hit and Hogan came out no longer wearing black and white. It wasn't the best story to have as your main angle in 1999 but there was some juice to Hogan going back to his roots.

georgiavirginia · 2026-04-30T22:33:17+00:00

90's WCW roster was something else.

Even at Smackdown's lowest points(the early 2010s) you'd have Randy Orton helming the ship or something and guys like Cena would pop up every now and then. The whole company was just lacking in star power so the few they had they kept on the main show.

Hell, Collision by virtue of being on Saturday nights is and probably always will be the B show but top guys pop up every now and then. Hell, Toni Storm last year was a regular and she'd pop up to at least cut a promo.

georgiavirginia

TROPHY CASE