I wonder if maybe he didn't want to work in AEW? It kinda feels like he's doing an around-the-world indies run, similar to Matt Cardona. Which, speaking of which, I'm excited for their match against each other in GCW!

I’m wondering if part of Punk’s contract was to get a Wrestlemania main event? Granted that would make that promo he cut against MJF a bit null and void about main eventing the 4-for-1 PPV extravaganza.

They seem to have been heavily implying Punk v. Rollins since Survivor Series, although that is likely in flux given Rollins hurt his knee. Or the other way to get around that is Priest cashes in, “hurts” Rollins, and now Priest v. Royal Rumble winner, but of course there really isn’t any build to that.

Im guessing obviously Night 2 will be Rock v. Reigns, where Reigns wins via finger poke of doom, they hug each other in the middle of the ring at the end, and then Ari Emanuel hands them both large sacks with dollar signs on them and the belts are replaced with movie deals.

Also, glad to hear of the deal between WWE and Netflix starting next year (guess I actually will hold onto my account). Bummed that it is only for Raw, since they are moving Smackdown back to the USA network. Apparently all shows eventually will move to Netflix (I think they said by around 2029 based on the length of their other TV deals). That’s a win for me as I have no desire to subscribe to any semblance of a cable deal (traditional, YouTube, or Hulu) just to watch a handful of shows.

Ehh... I figured that if Nemeth did go to AEW, he would most likely get lost in the shuffle like they did with a lot of their other acquisitions. IDK how he's going to be handled in TNA (I know why they changed their name from Impact, but it still baffles me) so I'm guessing that it's a short term wait until Tony Khan gets desperate for more brand names once Sting and Dustin Rhodes retires.

Vince McMahon gone from WWE following serious sex trafficking accusations from a former employee.

I don't think he's coming back from this one like he did with his 2022 "retirement".

He was more or less on his way out even before this happened, this essentially is the final nail on the coffin. (The comeback was more facitiating a corporate merger with the UFC than anything else, even if he did try to take back booking power until he got rebuffed)

At this point, WWE has long since moved on with Triple H as creative director, The Rock as a board member and a new Netflix deal for Raw. As for Vince, he'll most likely get the Hulk Hogan treatment where he will be shunned for a time, but they aren't going to remove him from the video archives or anything like that. (That's a given considering Vince has been on-screen character for decades and he "created" the WWE as it is)

You can't remove him from the archives because he's all over them and doing so would remove like months upon months worth (in terms of sheer hours) of content. However, I also cannot see them celebrating him or bringing him back on camera at any point in the remainder of this decade. The man is beyond toxic.

How you guys feeling about the Rock's return and him taking the main event of Wrestlemania against Roman Reigns instead of Cody?

I agree with all the memes. The Rock is the new Hogan, can't live without the spotlight. Cody's been shafted. It's timeless in a way, the Rhodes family getting screwed over by the WWE.

Has he been shafted? Or is it that the IWC is just too reactionary to understand long term booking?

Oh hi. I'm aviewaskewed. I used to post in this thread a lot, and was a mod for the site for a bit. I've since transitioned into a play by play announcer role in the business. I work for PA independents 3WA (the oldest independent in the US, founded by Dino Sana, currently based out of Quakertown PA) and with the SWO (based out of Seven Valleys PA, founded by ECW original and host of Inside The Squared Circle, The Wolfman). I also co-host independent wrestling focused podcast Around The Turnbuckle Sundays at 6 PM on youtube and FB live. I'd love to become a bit more active here again and speak about the glories of the independent wrestling scene (which despite my local actual paying gigs, I assure you I have been able to have international interactions with). Would that interest anyone here? Are you within the Pennsylvania area? Would you like to come on out to some great wrestling in your area? Perhaps you're further afield in the US? I've spoken to and work with folks across the US as well! Our sport (and yes, I do call it a sport as a shoot) is so much bigger then WWE, Once upon a time I opened some eyes to the glories of ECW. Now I'd like to do it for the depth and breadth of the wonderful world of professional wrestling that exists. I'd also love to speak with you about what I feel is the art of the play by play announcer, and what I have experienced in the business over the course of 3(ish, I'm coming up on my 3rd anniversary this sunday) years in the business so far!

Please do reply to this post with any bits you may be interested in. It is in no way my intention to try and monopolize the conversation here, or post inane shit no one cares about just to get myself over and stroke my own ego. I just have been able to experience the power of the grass roots of our business and the luck that is sometimes involved in knowing the right person at the right time (I spoke to Stevie Ray once off that, and the trainer of Bryan Danielson as well). So what do you say? Let's turn this into a little more then a shot in the dark of a long post asking for connection? Let's make it a connection!

Thanks for bearing with this long ass post and reading this far. I'll be watching :)

Hey there, welcome back! Very cool to have someone posting in this thread who posted way in the beginning, love seeing it <3 and yeah, Cody has definitely not been shafted whatsoever, but you gotta keep in mind that when I asked what people thought - it was right after the Rock came back and had that stare-down with Roman. And I'm glad people had that reaction, because honestly I find it really hard to believe that it was totally just a long-term story all along that those dang online fans were too impatient on! I think the WWE changed their position after the fan uproar, especially due to how weird and sudden they changed it at the beginning. Of course, now all the motions fit into place and it's worked out great, but still...

Very cool that you've transitioned into being a play by play announcer! I know Philadelphia has some great wrestling, although unfortunately I'm not from the area so I'm not too updated on the local scene. Last I've looked into it was when Chikara existed, haha. Very cool to see people from then succeeded now though! Especially Drew Gulak from WWE AKA @1st, considering he's a Newgrounds OG who used to post here as well ;)

When did you figure out that being a play by play announcer was right for you? Who are some of the wrestlers you've seen that you think have great potential? Absolutely love that part about opening eyes to the world of ECW because ECW was my first experience with wrestling in general - watching a shoddy low-quality recording of an RVD vs Sabu match uploaded online is what really got me into it. I had the pleasure of meeting RVD in his hometown of Battle Creek at an indie event, alongside other former ECW talent... lovely stuff!

I've had some slight experience with wrestling, but nothing major - I've had the pleasure of photographing AEW and NJPW events before, and through that have gotten very slight interactions with a few "big" wrestlers and have gotten to be acquaintances with a few local indie wrestlers. I also have a collection of wrestling magazines spanning to 1971, and I'd like to think of this as a hub for discussion of all wrestling from any time period and any promotion, big or small. However, WWE talk is still great as well of course! WWE is what I tend to watch with friends, anyways. Happy to have you back in the club!

Whoa! You're deep in the biz. I've been to some Keystone State Wrestling Alliance events since I'm located in the west of the state. Never been to anything in PA east of Gettysburgh though.

There's still this annoying trend that's existed for years to say "oh, I saw chapter 1....so now I know how the whole game wil be played, and it'll be awful". Granted, WWE has fostered that idea for years but, it really is a new regime, Vince is out and never coming back. Triple H is going to employ the kind of tricks and such that worked in NXT to the main. People have got to learn patience and to let things play out. The best stories are the ones that make you wait for it. Ever see A; Snow explain where "pop" comes from? I explained it to my girl and she looked at me like "what the fuck are you involved with and why do you keep taking my child to it?"

Wow! Had no idea about that! Very cool.

I've always wanted to do it. Some people dream of being wrestlers, I dreamed of being the guy that helps them tell their story and bring it to life. The challenge is great, especially since I do not work from a script, if its good, it's mine. If it sucks, it's also mine. In one promotion all I get is a format with who is going over. The other I get more detailed notes and have a better idea of where we want to take things a couple months or so ahead, so that is a big help in being able to seed things especially when we're dealing with turns.

Off the top of my head? Tony Leyanda. It makes me ANGRY how good he is and I've not seen him getting more notice. He did do the Monster Factory show on fite though. Dawgnation are easily one of the best tag teams anywhere in the business right now. They can work heel or face equally effectively, and are also guys that have credibly held singles gold. irvin Legend is out of Virginia and has done AEW Dark and did a squash on SD! last year against Hit Row. Good worker, great human. Also high on a guy named Tom MItchell, amazing look, great worker, awesome and mature attitude. Prince Piranha again a great flyer, funny as fuck, one of my favorite people period. The Dude is also a guy that has all the potential in the world, good beyond his level of experience. Those are a few that spring to mind. There's plenty more youngsters on the come up, but also some guys that are happy being integral to keeping and building these systems we need to get the next generation moving.

The Hat Guy is my nemesis in 3WA lol. He made the transition to heel manager and he and his goon squad are constantly after me for speaking truth to their rampage of evil! I'm also great friends with The Wolfman. He is a legend in the PA indies and one of my mentors in this business. He's most famous for working a squash on early ECW TV against Terry Funk. He left the promotion over a disagreement with Heyman when he got the book.

Thanks! Always great to connect with fans and folks that are also getting a toe in. Wrestling is the most unique and exhilirating performance art there is to my mind. Much love to you and the rest of the photog fraternity, you guys make us look good.

Just a very lucky guy trying to make the most of his opportunities. Depending on how far you are from Gettysburg, you wouldn't be terribly far from us over in SWO, we run in Seven Valleys and the York/Lancaster area. There's also Mal Havok with RWF out in Harrisburg as well.

I'm four hour hours from Harrisburg and five hours from York so doubtful I ever make it out that way unfortunately.

Understandable. We're on Youtube though, as are most of the promotions in the PA scene. Also my streaming show Around The Turnbuckle. So if you look up SWO, 3WA, CCW, RWF, and others, I'm sure you can find our product that way. Always happy to turn someone on to good indy wrestling and even happier to get feedback on what I'm doing (bad as well as the good) for the companies I'm blessed to work with.

I've found the 3WA youtube channel, definitely gonna check you folks out.

Give em the axe bomber!

question about this club: does pertain to just WWE or can be just about anything wrestling related?

Anything wrestling related! Just a while ago, people were posting about TNA and such - any and all wrestling conversation is welcome!

Awesome

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOFKPPAmE4k8EP8VqIWOpWQ

Love these matches, very talented wrestlers with a great future

I feel like DPW is a great company for up and coming talent

https://youtu.be/bsX5iR4YthI?si=ltM2feie0r6RVHyZ

a great AEW match here, it’s so weird seeing Edge and Christian fighting in such a brutal match

It’s great seeing Tanaka wrestling, loved his matches with mike awesome, anyone else love Tanaka?

At a WWE house show now and was able to bring my professional camera! Will post pictures here!!

Can’t wait!

Awesome pictures man

new Maven interview

I’ll be in the front row tonight on Smackdown. Keep an eye out for my low quality sign.

It’s clobbering time!