*Sigh*

Apparently, Vince has announced he intends to return to WWE. It's unclear if he'll be involved in creative, but that seems kind of likely. That's unfortunate because while it hasn't been perfect, I had been enjoying the HHH era thus far. I guess we'll see what happens.

Vince's press release indicates that his intention is to return in preparation for a sale. Have mixed feelings about that. In some ways, it's better to have a company like Universal or Disney in control of things, because they have less of an ego about it, and are less likely to insist on things being done their way even when that's clearly not the right way. On the other hand, no outside company so far has really seemed to "get" wrestling, and that has its own downsides.

Overall, a bit bummed by this news. We'll see how it turns out.

That's bad news indeed. Kind of reeks of "if I can't have it, you guys can't either" spoilt child vibe.

Just give h 5 years, see what he can do. Jeez

I think selling the company makes sense. There are a lot of streaming services trying really hard to get content, and this is something that appeals to a niche that will buy a streaming service for it, plus kids. So, I could see Disney, Univeral, and Paramount all being very interested and paying a premium. I just hope Vince stays away from creative. 

So, they're definitely pursuing a buyout, Stephanie is gone, and one of the names in the running for buying them is Saudi Arabia.

If that happens, that will sadly probably be the end of me watching wrestling. There is a lot of really shady shit the WWE has done that I've managed to rationalize. I think that would be a bridge too far. The good thing is that this can't be a hostile takeover. Vince owns enough stock that, basically, no sale can happen without his approval. I still hold a shred of hope that McMahon has enough decency not to sell to Saudi Arabia.

At any rate, gonna enjoy this Wrestlemania season like it's my last, because it very well could be.

On an unrelated note, I've been watching some old WWE events, basically making my way through their event chronology from 2002 on while on the treadmill. At bad blood 2003, there was a redneck triathalon between Stone Cold and Eric Bischoff. There was a poontang pie eating contest, as the second event. After tons of creepy segments with older men talking about how much they want to eat out young girls, who are effectively prostitutes, and the girls looking as vapid and plastic as possible, the segment ended with Mae Young coming out as the "pie" and doing a Bronco Buster on Bischoff, hence fulfilling the pie eating requirement. Stone Cold, instead of eating out an octogenarian kicked her in the stomach, and gave her a Stone Cold Stunner.

Just a reminder older wrestling wasn't always better.

I hope its not true.

I'd rather Comcast or Disney own it.


Not only for the fact that the money they can pump in and creating shows/movies in the future but also the IP can be expanded into theme parks that each company owns - Comcast with Universal and Disney with the Disney parks.

Imagine a WWE Park with The Undertaker, Hulk Hogan, NWO, The Rock, John Cena, Stone Cold Steve Austin, etc  - that would be great.

It would be best for the industry if they remained an independent entity.

Saudi Arabia is merely the worst case scenario. But I think some massive media company buying it could put the whole business at risk, since Disney could try it out, find it’s not meeting financial expectations, then cancel it 2-3 years in.

I wouldn’t say Tony Khan either. The pro-wrestling industry is already far too concentrated as is.

Most likely scenario is that NBC/Universal buys it since they own USA, the Network is already on Peacock, and their relationship with WWE goes back well over 30 years. The history and legacy is already there so it's a natural fit.

I'm not too sure about Disney since they're still feeling the affects of the buyout/merger w/ 21st Century Fox and I don't think they'll be too keen on buying another major company any time soon, even if WWE is significantly smaller than 21st Century Fox.

I hope to God the Saudi sale doesn't happen for reasons not needed to be explained.
I also hope that a sale to Shad and Tony Khan doesn't happen either. Because a wrestling monopoly owned by the Khans and AEW is no different from a wrestling monopoly owned by the McMahons and WWE. Competition brings out the best in others and the Khans owning both major promotions would kill any motivation for them or the people behind the scenes to give a crap since it would all be controlled and owned by the same people.

This story with Sami Zayn and the Bloodline is the greatest story I have seen in a VERY LONG time!!!
That angle to end the Royal Rumble tonight was A+ Storytelling!
A freaking MASTERPIECE!

Yeah. I just wonder where they go from here. Originally I thought it would be Sami and KO vs the Usos for the tag titles at mania. And they could still do that, but at this point Zayn vs Reigns seems like the logical conclusion. Except for the Cody of it all. They have two potential star making main events, which is a better problem than they've had in years past, but I'm not sure which one they should do.

Overall the rumble was ok. The problem was that the winners of each match were very obvious. And, they absolutely should have done the obvious thing here instead of doing a swerve for the sake of a swerve, but it still wasn't as exciting to watch. Men's rumble had some cool spots. Logan Paul and Ricochet's spot was insane. Logan Paul continues to blow away expectations. He's legitimately a fucking prodigy. Gunther vs Cody at the end was classic face heel stuff... except for Cody going all Bobby Hill... and had me a little bit scared at times. Women's rumble wasn't quite as good, but at least the right person won. I feel like they have to split the men's and women's rumble into two shows. Two of them in one night is too much.

The rest of the matches were filler except for the main event. I barely remember Alexa Bliss vs Bianca. The Pitch Black match was an average Smackdown or Raw match with nifty lighting and kind of a let down for Bray Wyatt's first match back.

Main event saved the show. The match itself was pretty decent, but the afterbirth was exactly what it needed to be. I knew it was going to happen but a part of me still died. It was a little hammy like everything in this story, but in the best most sports entertaining kind of way. Like I said, only problem is that I'm not sure the fans are going to accept anything but Reigns vs Zayn at Wrestlemania. Even as insanely over as Cody is I can still kind of see fans pull a mania 30 style hijacking and willing Sami into the main event.

Both the Men's rumble match and the World title matches were the best of the night.

Wyatt/LA Knight match was okay but that mask.....