nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
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Post by nisidhe on May 3, 2024 17:15:07 GMT -5
A lot of folks on the roster are suffering the aftereffects of Vinceism right now...and Paul Levesque's big test is whether he's willing to break completely from Vince and push them creatively in the meantime.
What Vince has done, in a lot of cases, is ensure that they're paid well enough not to want to leave, but creatively screw them over so they can never really reach their potential. A couple of contract cycles like that and one can get kind of settled into the rut created for them.
Sadly, it seems that Vince did a shit-ton of that during the last few years. It's partly why AEW became such a litmus test for fans. Those guys willing to take a walk on the wild side left for AEW; those who likely settled, including a few who absolutely would have been Faces of the Company over there, stayed put. And while we can empathize about the money and wanting security, it did hurt a bit when some stayed instead of leaving and pushing the limits of the craft again.
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
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Post by nisidhe on May 2, 2024 17:48:56 GMT -5
It won't matter in the end how the trial plays out. Vince and Laurinaitis are bloody well through in any business or professional capacity.
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,723
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Post by nisidhe on May 2, 2024 16:50:36 GMT -5
I think he still has the stench of "Internet influencer" on him, not helped by his brother's upcoming bout with Mike Tyson.
It's one of those things where you want a celebrity to come in and do well, but not be seen as "taking a spot" from someone who may have worked from the bottom up to get there. It's an even worse look when that celebrity tries to meld the two worlds together as though there's really no difference between what still has the trappings of a sport and what is purely performance art.
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,723
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Post by nisidhe on Apr 30, 2024 18:59:56 GMT -5
I wonder how much is an attitude issue and how much is him having to f***ing much to do. Production company, Zoa, Teramana, Voss, XFL, Project Rock, Wrestling, working out/dieting for roles, and a family that includes two young daughters and another entering "the real world" and pro wrestling. Late 40s/early 50s you ain't responding to things like when you were in your 20s and 30s, could pop a bottle of trucker speed or a bump of Vince's secret booger sugar supply and keep going for a day or 12. I get it. I'm Dwayne's age, myself. We were 30 when we were in our teens, and a lot of the time we feel 30 in our 50s. Moreover, we're a sandwich generation, looking after both our aged parents and the young adults we produced that are now being crunched by an economy that has nothing for them. We're trying to be everything to everyone around us, and at our age some of those spinning plates are going to fall. But for Dwayne, there's the added spectre of Hollywood. After Weinstein, there are many, _many_ companies who are deeply sensitive about ensuring that cast and crew are treated well on set. Ill behavior by _anyone_ is likely a career-killer; certainly, it means you're working on DTV or art-house projects for the next few years. The major companies don't give two shits about Dwayne Johnson; if he's a PITA on-set, they can re-tweak the script, throw a 30-year-old in the spot and make _him_ a star. They're not going to risk a lawsuit from a grip who saw Dwayne piss in a water jug. They're not going to risk the hassle of reworking a project because they can't get anyone willing to work with Dwayne. Dwayne Johnson's seen as having made his money and not needing to work - so, why give him big-money offers when they can get the same or better work from someone younger and more eager not to be seen as an asshole on set... for far less, especially the movie isn't going to rely on star power to make it work.
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,723
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Post by nisidhe on Apr 26, 2024 12:18:45 GMT -5
Smackdown better draft Fallon’s Bar and Grill where she i on some Dukes of Hazzard shit to keep the Business B Kiana James from foreclosing! What if Kiana calls in...THE SEA CREATURE?!
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,723
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Post by nisidhe on Apr 24, 2024 15:14:08 GMT -5
Why not use drones for a more controllable display?
Loved them when Lady Gaga did the SuperBowl that year.
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,723
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Post by nisidhe on Apr 24, 2024 8:51:34 GMT -5
The "non-compete" clause accompanying contract releases in WWE are more of a layoff notice with severance rather than an outright release. It's not something that most other promotions can afford to do. Among those that can, it's as much to save money anyway or, as sometimes is the case, an immediate release is given to generate goodwill with talent who can then be free to perform elsewhere if they wish.
While we may give the WWE release terms a side-eye because of their perceived intent (to cool interest by other promotions in a talent), it's really not the same as a non-compete as we would see it defined legally. They're still under contract to WWE - they're just got going to be used regularly (if at all) for those last 90 days.
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,723
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Post by nisidhe on Apr 23, 2024 15:21:59 GMT -5
Yay!
What if, and hear me out here, what if Damian and Finn pull a Guerrero and Benoit shtick and have _both_ end up with the big belts?
That MITB briefcase can be for _any_ title, right? If anyone deserves to hold the strap with the lineage, it's Finn.
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,723
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Post by nisidhe on Apr 23, 2024 15:16:01 GMT -5
If Drew has not re-signed, he's not walking out of Glasgow with the title.
Mind you, a shock win could be the kind of development that leads to the Summer of Drew/Punk. There's too much speculation that he hasn't re-signed for WWE not to have re-signed him.
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,723
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Post by nisidhe on Apr 20, 2024 18:52:54 GMT -5
They uh... they really released three desi men in one go and didnt worry about the optics huh? OK. It is rather problematic that all three were released at once. That said, it became clear rather a while ago that WWE's penetration into the subcontinental market was going to have a ceiling - WWE might be popular, but gaps in fan service (live events, etc.) were long ago filled by local wrestlers impersonating WWE superstars and wrestling shows with ticket prices on which WWE could not hope to match. The international fan reach for Jinder and Veer was likewise limited; Jinder and Veer were always heels without much scope for becoming babyfaces in any sense that North American audiences would appreciate. Neither were given much shrift while in WWE, either, apart from the world title run for Jinder, which always came off as pandering, and the entire Veer experiment which took too long to launch and didn't reach the heights it needed to reach.
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,723
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Post by nisidhe on Apr 19, 2024 18:00:18 GMT -5
Make it a charity show in support of an OK group devoted to protecting and ensuring gender-affirming care to young trans people.
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,723
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Post by nisidhe on Apr 18, 2024 14:35:09 GMT -5
I would probably say that the true hate began for me when it became clear that his father's crew had been the ones who made the babyfaces shine and that Vince himself couldn't draft a babyface character to save his life. So, about the early 1990s.
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,723
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Post by nisidhe on Apr 18, 2024 14:20:05 GMT -5
Austin Theory being the future. Worse, that he built up Austin Theory on Finn Balor's back. Hell, for that matter, Balor's burial I'll gladly blame on that old pervert.
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,723
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Post by nisidhe on Apr 18, 2024 11:06:17 GMT -5
I'd suggest he's now on the board at TKO because he's likely managed to piss off a lot of Hollywood bigwigs with his manipulations. I mean, I wouldn't say that. Disney rolled out the red carpet for him at CinemaCon just last week and Netflix has enough of a relationship to promote his newest Christmas movie later this year so it's not like that's gone from him. And all it takes for an admin change for him to work for Warner Bros again. He'll be considered from some projects in future, but I don't see him working another franchise film again after _Black Adam_, at least. Certainly, his ability to influence certain directions of the films he's in will be curtailed. Purse-strings might be tightened on his projects as well.
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,723
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Post by nisidhe on Apr 18, 2024 10:19:41 GMT -5
The Rock has said a lot of things recently that have soured a lot of people's view of him... and we really can't go too much further into what it is on this board. There's also the "I can't lose ever." clause in his movie contracts... which is absurd, especially when he signs on to play bad guys. I'd suggest he's now on the board at TKO because he's likely managed to piss off a lot of Hollywood bigwigs with his manipulations. Cena, on the other hand, hasn't thrown his weight around and has gained a reputation as someone willing to take the piss out of himself for the good of the project, such as at the Oscars. While news of his contact with Vince is troubling, I don't think he's done anything yet that will get him cancelled in Hollywood. Cena hasn't risen enough to take the kind of fall Dwayne has taken.
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,723
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Post by nisidhe on Apr 17, 2024 14:40:30 GMT -5
Is it too much to say that it's kind of gross that a female lawyer agreed to represent Vince? Not to take away her agency, but considering the nature of the accusations, no woman on the planet should want to take up for his cause. In Canada, Marie Henein got Jian Ghomeshi off for allegedly sexually assaulting Lucy DuCoutere (Lucy from _Trailer Park Boys_). She was exceedingly effective as a defender (and I had sided with Lucy in the case.)
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,723
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Post by nisidhe on Apr 17, 2024 11:50:13 GMT -5
I don't know, are you surprised Louis CK still gets work? I'm not surprised, but consider that CK is no longer considered for anything more than live shows in heavily-conservative areas. After Weinstein, that's CK's ceiling. He's not likely to break out again without those allegations out there waiting to pound him down - and someone will _always_ be there to bring them up. It happened with OJ. It will happen with Vince. He won't be able to fart sideways without someone giving him a pranging for it.
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,723
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Post by nisidhe on Apr 15, 2024 15:41:28 GMT -5
If Seth can keep his title injured and Roman can show up once a quarter, then let Rhea keep it. I wish they'd given the same consideration to Finn back in 2016, but it is what it is. Rhea isn't so necessary to the women's division. I'd suggest that the title is. If she's as banged up as reports say, she can use the time off. That said, she doesn't need to hold the title in the interim. Women's title tournament for the win!
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,723
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Post by nisidhe on Apr 13, 2024 16:57:52 GMT -5
Not to mention, he couldn't get any big time distrubution/tv deals, and sponsors. It would be PR suicide. Don't be too sure about that. People see Vince McMahon as generating buzz regardless of his infamy. Some backwater cable channel will jump at the chance to add a Vince-led promotion to its lineup just to boost ratings for the network. Depending on the network, they might even allow the programming for free and just shove whatever commercials and PSAs it can dredge up.
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
Posts: 5,723
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Post by nisidhe on Apr 13, 2024 15:17:01 GMT -5
Vince selling off the remainder of his TKO stock is a signal, and perhaps a warning.
If he's crazy enough, he might be looking to get out of any legal involvement with TKO (non-competes and the like) to start his own rival promotion, or getting into the political game.
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