Post by andrew8798 on Nov 8, 2013 18:51:57 GMT -5
It's early November and WWE is already working on a line-up for this year's WrestleMania. It appears (and card subject to change of course) that it's probably not going to be HHH vs. Steve Austin for control of the company with Austin representing Vince McMahon, as had been the working idea months back. If that's the case, it's double-top-secret right now because nobody we've talked to seriously believes that's on the books. They already have working plans for most of the top names, HHH, John Cena, Ryback, Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton, Undertaker, etc. From what we can gather, while I don't have a full card it appears they want to do Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar if that works out (this could change if WWE comes to an agreement with Sting for the show); Ryback vs. Goldberg if that works out; Cody vs. Dustin; Randy Orton vs. CM Punk (Punk at one point was going to win the Rumble for the title shot, but there was talk of having the winner be whoever challenges for the World title instead), which means Punk may achieve his final career goal of closing out WrestleMania; and more. Although Shawn has denied it to everyone, there are people within WWE who believe wholeheartedly that Shawn vs. Bryan is happening on that show.
At the moment, Orton and Cena are expected to be champions booked about equally from now through at least Chamber, and probably WrestleMania.
When will Vince McMahon return? It's anybody's guess. He was listed in advertising well over a month ago but he changed his mind and pushed it back. Then he was going to return around Hell in a Cell to start whatever HHH vs. Vince storyline they're going to do for WrestleMania. That got pushed back as well. The story we were told was that Vince's return was always planned for January and they didn't want to bring him back early but figured they would have to in order to help bump the ratings during football season when things started to really dip. But then John Cena returned and Raw did a 2.95 rating against very stiff competition, so then they figured, well, Cena can bump the ratings up for now and we can hold of Vince maybe for the rest of the year. But the rating was down again this week which makes me think he could make a surprise return at any time. As of Monday that was not the plan, thus the writing off of the Big Show storyline with a stupid angle where he gave up a multi-million dollar lawsuit in exchange for a wrestling contract and a title match at Survivor Series, then was beaten up and left laying like an idiot.
When will Vince McMahon return? It's anybody's guess. He was listed in advertising well over a month ago but he changed his mind and pushed it back. Then he was going to return around Hell in a Cell to start whatever HHH vs. Vince storyline they're going to do for WrestleMania. That got pushed back as well. The story we were told was that Vince's return was always planned for January and they didn't want to bring him back early but figured they would have to in order to help bump the ratings during football season when things started to really dip. But then John Cena returned and Raw did a 2.95 rating against very stiff competition, so then they figured, well, Cena can bump the ratings up for now and we can hold of Vince maybe for the rest of the year. But the rating was down again this week which makes me think he could make a surprise return at any time. As of Monday that was not the plan, thus the writing off of the Big Show storyline with a stupid angle where he gave up a multi-million dollar lawsuit in exchange for a wrestling contract and a title match at Survivor Series, then was beaten up and left laying like an idiot.
Regarding the show-ending heel beatdowns, the way the creative team is explaining it is that if it happens at the end of the show it makes sense for no babyface to come out to make the save because they've already left the building.
Regarding the rumors of TNA's sale, reminds me very much of the dying days of WCW. Janice Carter, Dixie's mom, sent a memo to talent claiming there were no sale talks with anyone and that they were fully committed to TNA. Multiple sources have confirmed that this is not the case and that there are talks with potential buyers going on right now. One source said the talks are very serious. Regarding Internet rumors, nearly everyone who has been speculated, including Billy Corgan, is not involved in negotiations. We are told from the WWE side that they are following this story very closely, "more so than people would ever imagine," not in the sense that they have any interest in buying, but that they want to know who IS interested in buying and what the status will be of certain talents, including Hulk Hogan and Sting.
They are trying to get members of the Red Sox to show up at Survivor Series in Boston, perhaps in the corner of John Cena.
-F4W