The Wrestling Thread: WWE WrestleMania XL - 6/7 April 2024

[KK]

I’m sure more stories will come out about him and others in the months and years ahead.

All of McMahon’s cronies are on the way out.

Hunter sure didn’t hang about bringing Karrion Kross and his wife Scarlett back (he was at the Flair PPV last weekend).

[Cumberdanes]

Looks like Kevin Dunn is staying. Word is that the one person that would have likely replaced him recently left the company and given the circumstances of their departure it's unlikely they'll be back.

[Cumberdanes]

I’m currently watching it now on DM, and it’s terrible. Nice to see a few familiar faces again (Doug Dillinger!) but on the whole the whole thing is just sad. All the people enabling this to happen are part of the problem too.

Let’s be real, apart from the odd anomaly (Jeff Hardy being completely out of it in TNA) it’s the worst PPV main event I’ve ever watched but I’m sure people will and have made excuses for it. The whole theme of the night from various talking heads was making excuses for it. As far as I could make out, not only did Flair look drunk before the match even started, but his shoulders were also down when applying the (extremely loose) Figure Four for the finish. He looked out of it. I don’t know if that was intentional (gotta set up the rematch!) but moments prior he also appeared to be struggling to even grip the brass knuckles. Standing on the apron at various points…well, let’s put it this way, it would have made Dennis Rodman in ‘98 look wide awake.

Flair/Michaels was the perfect send off and unfortunately both men have since gone on to stink the joint out in 2 of the most dire tag team encounters you’ll ever see.

I dunno if Ric Flair needs the money or just craves the spotlight. He was past his prime but could at least still go when he wrestled Sting in a t-shirt on the final Nitro, that was over 20 years ago. He has no business wrestling in 2022

[gaminglegend]

Apparently Flair is already regretting saying it was his retirement match...

Cumberdanes I think it's both. He continues to live an expensive lifestyle and has a ton of divorce settlements and such he continues to pay out I believe meaning he's always in fiscal trouble. He should be retiring on a mountain of cash.

Nash interviewed this week and said he didn't want to watch that match live just in case, after still dealing with the passing of Scott Hall, and not a chance he'd come back for Saudi dollars. For all Nash's mistakes, he seems really switched on and someone who hasn't wasted all of his money and pissed it away.

People need to recognise when the spotlight has gone and take a step back, but with the money made on that PPV it seems that's not the case from some wrestling fans. For me, I don't need to see Sting in the ring at all anymore, Flair, Hogan (thank the lord he can't because no doubt he'd try) or Goldberg (even though he's a lot younger..etc..

[captain red dog]

I'm rapidly losing any enjoyment in watching Moxley matches. Virtually every single match he does always seems to result in blood. It totally loses any effect when you know someone will bleed every time he is in the ring. I've become totally desensitised to blood in AEW now.

I also think it's extremely unhealthy for him physically and mentally.

[GrinWithoutaKat]

They've massively reduced some of the ticket prices from Clash at the Castle. Floor level seats were £1100, now going for £100. Some seats up in the stands at £35 now, when previously cheapest was over £100.

[Return_of_the_STAR]

They've massively reduced some of the ticket prices from Clash at the Castle. Floor level seats were £1100, now going for £100. Some seats up in the stands at £35 now, when previously cheapest was over £100.

Seriously? How is this fair on those who have already bought tickets

[Johnny Ryall]

Supply and demand innit, they need that sellout for TV. Pretty sure in the 90s if TV tapings for Raw/Nitro didn’t sell out it was commonplace to straight up give away tickets.

If it was just a live event I doubt they would be caring.

[GrinWithoutaKat]

Apparently there is some kind of upgrade thing in place, but it sounds like a mess. We've ended up paying more for middle tier tickets in the corner than what ground level seats one block from the ring are now going for.

[Rawrgna]

So NXT UK is dead and from its ashes Nxt Europe will rise but honestly i don't t know if there needs to be yet another show after nxt level up. When it already feels bloated with Main event also being a thing

[KK]

I wonder how many people were actually watching NXT UK? It runs across BT Sport, 5Action/My5 and WWE Network, but it was only being seen by a few thousand on BT Sport and 5, so unless it was doing really well on WWE Network, it's been one show too many for the majority for a long time now. It's the same with Main Event, NXT Level Up, AEW Dark and AEW Dark Elevation - I don't watch any of them.

The only positive as a viewer for NXT Europe is that it may lead to some different looking shows if they were outdoors, and the atmosphere could be unique. It's been a long time since WWE did TV from Germany or Italy.

[Mafro]

The only thing NXT UK was good for was keeping all those sex pests in the one place.

[captain red dog]

I think they should be careful about putting too many NXT stars out at Clash. The vast majority of the fans in the stadium will be highly casual fans who are likely to know only the top names. The worst thing for an NXT talent is to come out to pretty much silence, as people won't know who they are.

We are going to be looking at a crowd mainly made up of lapsed fans who haven't really watched properly since the attitude era. If ever there was an event to get the likes of Austin back, this would be it as much as Mania in Texas.

I don't want to see it happen, but I think even Hulk Hogan would get a pretty big pop as most fans would see him as an 80s icon with no idea about the racism scandal.

[KK]

They might wheel out the Undertaker, he’s here for his one man show.

WWE revealed the show is being partially subsidised so while not to the same extent of Saudi, they’re probably not that bothered about having to discount tickets.

[Return_of_the_STAR]

They might wheel out the Undertaker, he’s here for his one man show.

WWE revealed the show is being partially subsidised so while not to the same extent of Saudi, they’re probably not that bothered about having to discount tickets.

Yeah I saw it was subsidised as well. This really surprised me as it's not really something that tends to happen here. Who is subsidising it? Cardiff city council or the stadium operators?

[KK]

Cardiff, according to Nick Khan. By how much should become public knowledge at some point.

[Johnny Ryall]

It's one of those things that's a bit of a gamble on tourism money I guess. Maybe not so much from the US but I wouldn't be shocked if there were a lot of people traveling in from mainland Europe.

I just hope it isn't inconsequential like the Insurrextion days, but back then they never even mentioned the Sky Box Office PPVs on TV. From what I remember it was always an inserted voice over into the Sky airing promoting it or during ad breaks.

[KK]

I remember the first one being a big deal (One Night Only) but after that they just became house shows. The only time I can recall it playing into a storyline on regular TV is when British Bulldog threw a bin at Stephanie McMahon and knocked her out, or something like that. This resulted in her temporarily forgetting who Test was.

[Mafro]

I remember the first one being a big deal (One Night Only) but after that they just became house shows. The only time I can recall it playing into a storyline on regular TV is when British Bulldog threw a bin at Stephanie McMahon and knocked her out, or something like that. This resulted in her temporarily forgetting who Test was.

Oh iirc Bulldog burst in a room while Stephanie was behind the door It was so gooseberry fool.

[Johnny Ryall]

Bless Davey Boy's heart, good wrestler but should never have been used doing angles.