Scott Keith

Brock to SDLive



Because we’re talking about Vince, the man of “Viking Experiences”, isn’t the obvious “big move” to SDLive bringing Brock in and having him squash Kofi for the WWE Title tonight.

A) Vince gotta troll

B) Brock will make Fox execs happy

C) It makes no logical sense – always a Vince staple.

D) No more Ronda for awhile and Fox wants “real sports”

Bork Laser does not work Tuesdays, PAL. 

Renee Young

Hey Scott,

   When Talking Smack was on, Renee was my favorite non in ring personality.  Now that she's on Raw I swear everytime she opens her mouth my nipples bleed and I hope she leaves with Ambrose.  How did they fuck her up so bad?

Because not everyone can or should be a color commentator.  

“The Viking Experience”




LOL holy shit! They took an awesome name in War Machine, made it 25% worse by calling them The War Raiders, and now this. Erik and Ivar? Are they a shitty ride at EPCOT? A limited time only exhibit at your city’s history museum? The Shining Stars of Scandinavia? You decide! I may never stop laughing.

It’s a tad on the nose, innit?  

Vince hedging his bets on Reigns?

Is Vince hedging his bets with Roman Reigns moving forward?  He was barely on a few of the Raws leading up to W.M., nor was he even on the day after 'Mania Raw that usually features an unforgiving audience.  Then there was that segment that John Oliver had on his show a few weeks ago that showed the crowd booing and catcalling a babyface Reigns as evidence that McMahon doesn't listen to what his fanbase wants.  Any ideas?  


The man just came back from cancer.  I'm not shocked they'd be taking it slow with him.  

Alternate commentary teams

Something I've always wondered about in the modern era's world of separate RAW and Smackdown commentary teams at the PPVs. When one team is calling the match on TV, the other team is still sitting there. They seem engaged… not looking around the arena or casually chatting, etc. What are they doing? Are they calling the match as well? Preparing for their next match? Playing with their phones? 

I'd assume they're Twittering or getting instructions from Vince on the headset.  Never really thought about it.  

The Jinder Mahal Experiment 2 Years Later


Looking back on the Jinder Mahal experiment 2 years later, how do you feel about it today?  I know I'm in the minority, but I was for it even though it failed.  It seems most fans scream and yell about the same people being in the main event scene, but then go back to yelling and screaming when it's someone new that they don't like.  


I mean, if you had WANTED someone shitty as WWE champion, there were lots of other, better choices.  What exactly about Jinder Mahal screamed out "Future World champion" to you?  He couldn't do a main event promo and couldn't get a good match out of Nakamura, so what exactly was he bringing to the table here besides "Someone different"?  I'm legitimately curious.

What’s best for business


Hey Scott,


With all the talk about WWE superstars wanting out and possibly signing with AEW, isn't it in Vince's best interest to let these people go?

My reasoning is that the WWE has established there brand to be bigger than any superstar. Plus the amount of talent in WWE seems to have hurt/handicapped the creative side and even with the amount of programing theres not enough time for everyone.

I think Vince and HHH deep down would like to have some major competition to take on and eventually put out of business.
It's absolutely for the best to let them go.  Just look at how Drew McIntyre managed to reinvent himself, for example.  In some ways, though, it's best for talent to be in a situation like JG was where you're little getting paid to sit at home and not go anywhere else.  Depends on what the motivations of the talent are, I suppose. 

The Perfect Stunner


I came across a gif of Mr. Perfect riding the razor’s edge of overselling and it made me think, did he ever take the stunner? If he did that bump would be an absolute all timer.

Only time it could have happened would be 2002 and I don't think they ever managed to cross paths, no.  The one that really disappointed me was Rikishi taking the move because I was expecting a Fatu-style 360 flip sell and it was nothing. 

WWE Superstar Shakeup 2019

Any guesses on who goes where in the WWE "Superstar Shakeup" this coming week?  I'm thinking A.J. Styles, Randy Orton, the Usos, Naomi, and Carmella go to Raw, while Braun Strowman, Bobby Lashley, The Revival, Sasha Banks Bayley go to Smackdown.  
I'm thinking it REALLY doesn't matter because they're probably going to redo the entire roster before the FOX deal starts in the fall anyway. 

Marty Jannetty


Did Vince McMahon try to make Marty Jannetty as successful as his old tag-team partner Shawn Michaels?  When Jannetty returned to the WWF and beat Michaels for the I.C. Title on an early episode of Raw, it seemed they were really attempting to push Jannetty hard at that point.  I take it Vince saw the writing on the wall and gave up with him?  I always thought he was a decent worker, but just didn't have "it"  

Oh, he had "it" all right.  And then he got caught with "it" and a bunch of other things.  The fact that Vince tried to push him as many times as he did and even put multiple titles on him says that he was fully willing to give him as many chances as needed to get over and Marty was the one who fucked it up.  If he hadn't showed up at Rumble 93 with more shit in his system than Jon Jones on weigh-in day, he probably would have won the title there and got a push for years afterwards.  

The Hogans




Who is your favorite Hogan?

Hulk Hogan
Nick Hogan
Brooke Hogan
Linda Hogan
Horace Hogan
Randy Hogan
Colonel Hogan


See, now what you've done there is step on my punchline. You're supposed to leave Colonel Hogan off and then I come up with it as the gag answer and maybe do a meme of the TV show.  BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD.

Russo’s WWF departure in 1999

Im hindsight, one of the worst professional decisions ever made? Dude is literally doing a 24/7 podcast now to pay his bills for a few old AE die-hards

I don't think so.  He was burning out in mid-99 and was likely nearing the end of his usefulness to Vince anyway.  At least the WCW deal gave him a financial cushion that he wouldn't have had when he was inevitably tossed aside like garbage by WWE.  Also, going to WCW allowed people to actually know who he was, for better or worse.  If he was just some anonymous writer in the WWF who got fired or quit or whatever, he'd be a trivia note years later where people would be like "Did you know former WWF magazine editor Vic Venom was actually a writer for the WWF for a few years under his real name of Vince Russo?"  and that would be it.  

The Hart Foundation

I’m sure you know there’s a site dedicated to matches you’ve rated 4-stars and above.http://skeith4plusratings.blogspot.com/?m=1

What surprised me was that I didn’t see any Hart Foundation matches on there (meaning the original Bret/Anvil team.)

I always got the impression they were your favorite team, so could you share some of your favorite Hart Foundation matches? 

Most of 1986 and 87, where they had an amazing run of matches against the Bulldogs.  The Demolition title win at Summerslam 90 is one of my personal favorite matches of all time, although not technically the best or anything.  There was a match they had against the Legion of Doom on Coliseum Video in 1990 or 91 where they were having a decent babyface match and then Bret turned himself heel with a cheapshot from the apron and it turned GREAT.  Actually LOD v. Harts was a dynamic that was sadly never explored because they would have had some incredible matches, I think. 

Question



Scott,


What do you make of AEW offering Dean more than what Reigns and Rollins currently make?

I don’t see the downside for anyone.  They get a big player and major name, WWE is forced to up their offers and actually give guys fair compensation for all the money the company is making on their backs.  That’s called CAPITALISM, baby.  

Out of touch

Hi Scott,

Where is Vince on the Verne Gagne Out of Touch Scale?

I believe the following anecdote from this week’s Observer will refute any claims of Vince being out of touch:

Another incident took place before the show. Pat McAfee, the former NFL player who worked on the pregame show, was told no jorts. So he came out with tuxedo pants that were cut into shorts. Michael Cole, who is in charge of the announcers, saw him in the shorts backstage and started yelling at him in front of for looking unprofessional. McAfee said he nearly quit right there. In fact, he went to his dressing room and started packing his things to leave. When somebody saw him packing and asked why he was packing before the show, he said, “You can tell Michael Cole to go f*** himself. I’m leaving. I’m not getting punked and yelled at like a child in front of everybody like that.”

Vince McMahon was told about it. He called McAfee in and McAfee apparently had a photo of Lebron James wearing the same type of shorts with a suit. And well, you know, if Lebron does it, it makes it fashionable and not unprofessional. Vince claimed he knows what’s hip and told McAfee he was cool wearing them. Cole then had to apologize to him.


Your Favorite Rant


Hey Scott,

What is your personal favorite piece of writing you've done?


I think the Fully Loaded rant, where I got so bored that I wrote the history of the fast forward button, would probably have to qualify.  Either that or my famous mirror universe review of the RAW draft because people were so triggered by it initially and then came to love it later on.  

Smartening Up Sasha


We all know that Sasha has one of the most tell-tale job faces in the business. But with it being noted in the Observer that she tried to quit the company, and has been given time to think about what she wants to do / has gone into hiding because she and Bayley lost the women's tag titles, does this mean it's finally time for someone to sit her down and smarten her up?

Seriously though, with the current women's top tier now eclipsing her, and her desire to be on top meaning she's not likely to settle for being a utility player / challenger of the week, is there more prestige in staying in the midcard of the world's biggest wrestling promotion, or do you see her going off be a big fish in a smaller pond? Is Cody cupping his hand to his ear?


She should quit if she can.  She could definitely be a big fish in a small pond and probably have either AEW or ROH begging her to lead their women's division.  At the very least she'd be a major upgrade for the Beautiful People in ROH.  

Over the edge 1999



Hey Scott, after reading your night after backlash 99 review made me realize how close you are to the fateful night in May. So question, if the accident doesn’t happen is the higher power reveal the next night on raw? I know it didn’t happen until I think 3 Raws later. I guess not that it mattered since they instantly went into Austin being ceo literally in the same segment haha

Yes I believe it’s been mentioned before that the reveal was supposed to be that show and got delayed because of Owens’s death.  

Becky 2 Belts



Scott,


I'm confused.  How is she Becky 2 Belts when those aren't actually belts but championships?  Hoping you can shed some light on this.

Thanks!

It’s like that fashion thing women do where they have two belts crossed over, but they neither one is actually there to hold up her pants.  Granted the fashion world is a mystery to me, but that’s the only explanation that makes sense given this new information you’ve brought up.  

Comment?

Dear Scott:

My name is William and I am a reporter with Wrestling Inc. Presently, I am working on an article all about pro wrestling merch and I am hoping to get comment from a pro wrestling historian.

Basically, I would like to know how merch in pro wrestling started. What was the first merch sold to fans? Who put up the first merch table at a live show?

If you are able to comment on any of these topics, or if you would like to share other insights into the subject, I would very much appreciate it.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

I can't really help this fellow out because I don't know the answer, but it seems like it might be a fun topic of discussion in case anyone DOES.  Were they doing merch in the 70s, I wonder?  I feel like Dusty would be the one to start it if so.