Daily News Update – July 3, 2020

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TGIF, y’all.  Don’t forget to check out TNM Tournament Edition, the wrestling simulator reborn, at www.tnmte.com if you haven’t already.

 

DATELINE:  NXT Wrestler May Have Spoiled Title Match Result

*POSSIBLE SPOILER*

(some guy already spoiled it in an email last night, so THANKS for that)

DATELINE:  WWE Purchases Prominent Indy Wrestling Company

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/wwe-purchases-prominent-indy-wrestling-company/

DATELINE:  Here’s Why Shayna Baszler Has Been Missing

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/heres-shayna-baszler-missing/

(Geez, Tommy, that last one is a tad click-baity.  The answer is “There’s currently no reason why she’s missing”)

nWo 1999

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The fingerpoke of doom being WCW's death knell is complete revisionist history. The ratings for Nitro and Thunder went up for a couple of months. Souled Out 99 did a decent buyrate and SuperBrawl 99 headlined by Hogan vs. Flair did a REALLY good buyrate despite
revisionist history telling us nobody cared about nwo vs. WCW or Hogan vs. Flair anymore. The problem is when the nWo just sort of fizzled out. Hall relapsed. Hogan turned face for some reason and got injured. Nash turned face for some reason. The only one
who continued to wear nWo stuff while acting like a Heel was Scott Steiner even though he stopped teaming with any of his nWo mates by March. Then he got injured too, came back and introduced Rick into the nWo like they were still a thing. Sting came back
and instead of going after the nWo he went after Flair and DDP? Basically it was the terrible follow up booking/eventual fizzling out that killed WCW in 99 NOT the reformation of the real nWo. 


Yes I actually have a question. How and when would YOU have ended the nWo angle proper in 99? I know you've never been the biggest fan of the angle but it WAS still hot in early 99. Everybody says that nWo Hollywood vs. nWo Wolfpac was cut short but again the
ratings and buyrate went UP when it went back to proper nWo vs. WCW. But yeah you're given the book right after they reform, where do you go with it to do the angle justice, give it a proper ending and make sure you don't lose a big chunk of your fan base
in the process ala what WCW actually did.


I was kind of wondering when you were getting to the question there, but fair enough.  I would have done what everyone else has suggested in the past — Goldberg runs through the nWo one by one to set up six months of PPV main events, leading to him regaining the World title from Nash or Hogan in the summer for the big moment, and that ends the nWo.  

Punk Triple Crown

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So when the fans can return to live events the popular promotions aside from the E will need something big to reinvest fan interest immediately. I’m biased, I am a Punk fan, & this is an ambitious idea but that’s what’ll be needed yes? How about just to hit the ground running…..RoH, NJPW & AEW let Punk be a Triple Crown Champion? All 3 World Titles at once, say 3-4 months. It would draw eyes from every promotion & it’s something that hasn’t been seen in forever. AEW, RoH & NwA? AEW, NwA & MLW? Punk’s the last crown jewel of the AEW scene & a return after such a long absence would light a fire. Under a new promotion Punk v Moxley, Jericho & Rhodes is a fresh dynamic. Fresh matchups…..

Punk v MJF

Punk v Scurll

Punk v Cassidy

Punk v Omega

Punk v Cage

Could be a major kickstart pro wrestling needs once fans return. Too far fetched? Someone else instead of Punk? AEW / NJPW / RoH / MLW / NwA / IMPACT / AAA…..What say you Keith?

Punk couldn't even get people to watch Backstage on FS1. 

What to do with Shayna?

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Since they bungled Baszler's main roster debut so badly, it would appear that now Creative Has Nothing For Her. Since they're taking the women's tag titles seriously this week, I think a decent enough idea would be for Shayna, Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir to win the belts and Freebird it up. Can Duke and Shafir even work at that level?

My other idea was once Bayley and Sasha finally break up to make Shayna Bayley's tag partner/muscle and to call them Baszley.

Duke and Shafir definitely cannot work at that level.  The Baszler thing is doubly disappointing because she's already past what would be considered her prime years, and they spent YEARS with her in NXT for no reason, put her over top people at Survivor Series to groom her for a big debut, and then just had her lose to Becky at Wrestlemania and now that appears to be it.  

NXT UK – July 2, 2020

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NXT UK
Date: July 2, 2020
Host: Andy Shepard

We’re back with the Superstar Picks this week as there isn’t much else to show. That’s the kind of thing that works well here as WWE could run these things for months, though word on the street seems to be that we could be seeing tapings again soon. I’m happy with this for now though so let’s get to it.

Read moreNXT UK – July 2, 2020

The ESSENTIAL Thursday Night Thread: July 2, 2020

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Hello to all, and to those of us in the States: WE MADE IT!  A day early!

If you live in New Jersey, ICW is continuing their Deathmatch Drive-In series in Millville, NJ, just down the Atlantic City Expressway.  (They were going to run Atlantic City itself, but word of protests and counter-protests got out and they decided to get out of the way.)  Tim Donst makes his return to wrestling to take on Eddy Only, while Dominic Garrini faces Twan Tucker and Brett Ison goes against Eddie Kingston, among others.

In addition, FITE is showing a Salute to Backyard Wrestling on Saturday!  I don’t recognize too many people on the card because they’re all going by their “backyard” names, but I do see Nick Gage and I think Joey Janela on the poster, so there’s that.

Your Indie match of the week features Jonathan Gresham taking on Xavier Bell from Maine!

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some hamburgers to make.

Bring the Insanity!

Billy Gunn winning KOTR

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When Russo booked Billy Gunn to win the KOTR, was there a long term end game or just the feud with Rock at Summerslam?  Was he supposed to get the main event push that HHH got later that year?

Which was the bigger booking disaster Billy or King Mabel?

They at least got a few months of house show main events out of Mabel.  

Weekend Morning Shows

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Hey Scott,

I wrote a few ECW Hardcore TV reviews a few years back, and have several of your books, which are all great. Keep doing what you do, the way the media is, I can't even turn on Sports center anymore.

Anyway, this email isn't just to give you praise. Going back and reading Bayless's excellent Challenge/Action Zone stuff, I was wondering why the WWE didn't bring back Saturday and Sunday morning wrestling when it went to PG. Since it's mostly watched by kids, it wouldn't matter to them that there were squash's and they had all been taped a month ago.

I think the WWE really missed the boat on this, because the majority of us who watched on Saturday, watched Monday when we got older. 

A miss or WWE doesn't care about capturing the youth that will eventually be young men with disposable income?

Keep up the great sh*t, pal.
They tried it a few years back and it really didn't do very well.  But the problem now is definitely that there's no easy point of entry for new fans, especially young ones.  It's kind of insane that you literally need to follow FIVE HOURS of TV shows every week in order to properly “be a fan”.  Stuff like Superstars and Main Event is still out there, but you have to subscribe to the Network to watch it and thus you're probably already indoctrinated into the WWE Universe(tm) if you know where to watch them. 

Daily News Update – July 2, 2020

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Hope everyone had a great Canada Day and made sure to leave out a bowl of Hawkins Cheezies and a glass of Crush Cream Soda in case Anne Murray visited in the night-time.

DATELINE:  WWE Trademarks WCW Pay Per View Name

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/wwe-bringing-back-wcw-pay-per-view/

DATELINE:  WWE Forced To Postpone Plans To Bring Back Fans

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/wwe-forced-postpone-plans-bring-fans-back/

DATELINE:  AEW Postpones Fyter Fest Main Event And Brings Back Show

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/aew-postpones-fyter-fest-main-event-new-special-announced/

 

Oliver Copp of TNM contacted me the other day and hooked me up with the full version of the new game, so I’ve been downloading wrestler packs for it like crazy and my goal is to run another tag team tournament this summer using the game!  So if you’re interested in getting it for yourself, make sure to check it out at http://www.tnmte.com

 

NXT – July 1, 2020 (Great American Bash Night One)

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NXT
Date: July 1, 2020
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Tom Phillips, Beth Phoenix

We’re bringing back the Great American Bash over the next two weeks and that could be an interesting situation. NXT tends to know how to do these big shows pretty well and that could make for some interesting stuff over the following two shows. Next week is the big one but tonight could be a heck of a strong outing as well. Let’s get to it.

Read moreNXT – July 1, 2020 (Great American Bash Night One)

Dynamite – July 1, 2020 (Fyter Fest Night One)

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Dynamite
Date: July 1, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur, Chris Jericho

It’s a big night around here as we have arrived at the first night of Fyter Fest. Over the next two weeks, we’ll be seeing a pair of big shows for free, which is always one of the best taglines that you can offer. The headliner this week is Cody defending the TNT Title against Jake Hager, which could be interesting. Let’s get to it.

Read moreDynamite – July 1, 2020 (Fyter Fest Night One)

What the World Was Watching: Smoky Mountain TV – May 6, 1995

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Chip Kessler and Les Thatcher are doing commentary and they are still taped from Warrensville, North Carolina.

Read moreWhat the World Was Watching: Smoky Mountain TV – May 6, 1995