Tag: WWE

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Alberto Del Rio Feels WWE Is Ripping Off Their Top Superstars

While speaking with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, former WWE Superstar Alberto Del Rio talked about WWE having a monopoly on the wrestling industry. He also claims that several talents that left the indecent promotions have taken pay cuts up to 80 percent and he feels that several top Superstars of the company are being paid nothing.

“It’s horrible for the business, but you cannot blame that company. That company is doing what a company is supposed to do—monopolize, get the best talent from everywhere, and try to destroy the competition. They’re smart, you cannot blame them. The problem is with the talent. Just going there to be there with the promise of being on TV, but not even charging good money for your work, is not good business. We as wrestlers need to remember that this is a business. We started because we love the business and we stay in it because we have a lot of passion for it, but you have to be rewarded for your work. I was there and saw some of the main guys, new top heels, and new top babyfaces, get paid nothing for their matches. The new talent joining NXT is taking pay cuts to work there, sometimes even 80 percent less. You need to be rewarded for your work in a business.”

You can check out the full interview here.

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Why Titus O’Neil Is One of the Best Parts of RAW Right Now

The Titus Brand bandwagon (Brandwagon?) is coming this way, and I am here to say that I will be climbing aboard. The man used to be a reason to reach for the fast-forward button. Now he’s one of the more entertaining members of the roster. It took a while, but Titus O’Neil has found his niche on the roster. But why is the Titus Brand now a big deal? Allow me to explain.

Titus O’Neil Has Always Been Capable on the Mic

After Titus cut that dreadful promo on Raw after Summerslam (you know the one I’m talking about), everyone said he was hot garbage on the microphone. That’s simply not true. When he would work commentary, many praised him for his wit and good speaking ability. He sounded very natural. Barring the return of the Dudleys where he spent a good amount of time yelling incoherently, he was good.

Batista himself has said Titus would make a very good public speaker. I do think Titus is a good speaker. However, he’s better off staying away from those dead-serious promos. The reason the “I want Darren” promo sucked is because you could tell Titus was out of his element. When you watch him trying to earn a spot in the New Day or pushing his Titus Brand, he’s clearly more comfortable and more natural sounding. You have to play to a superstar’s strengths. You wouldn’t make Stone Cold cut a John Cena promo. Roman Reigns should avoid talking like Santino Marella. Bayley should avoid talking at all (I jest).

Now that Titus is having his strengths played to, he’s clearly better off. You can tell that he’s having fun. Dancing with the New Day, stealing Enzo Amore’s intro for himself, and all that jazz.

The Titus Brand Is Hilarious

Of course, humor is subjective, but many people, myself included, enjoy Titus’ segments on Raw. Ever since he moved away from Darren Young and began holding press conferences with Tom Phillips, he’s been a good bit of harmless fun. The “Tussle in Texas” was a particularly entertaining bout. It was hyped up as a legit fight, complete with a tale of the tape. 1 minute later, Titus is pinned after eating a World’s Strongest Slam from Mark Henry.

The addition of Apollo Crews to the Titus Brand will make for an even more interesting dynamic. Clearly Crews isn’t 100 percent on-board with the Brand. Still, he goes along with whatever wacky adventure Titus drags him to. Although O’Neil is very clearly a heel (a heel who just called the state of New Jersey “poor ass”), Crews is not entirely bad just yet. Titus receives all the heat, all while allowing Crews to slowly develop a character.

People have compared the two to LaVar and Lonzo Ball. To those who don’t know, Lonzo Ball is a Drake lookalike who many expect will be drafted in the next NBA Draft. LaVar is his loudmouth father who gets into all sorts of trouble. The comparison is there, and it works. Lonzo just wants to chill and play basketball, but LaVar keeps running his mouth and hyping him up as the Second Coming of Jesus. Same with O’Neil and Crews. Apollo just wants to wrestle and have fun, while Titus spews a whole lot of nonsense.

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NoDQ Video #958: Why Balor lost to Reigns

Here is the latest edition of my Q&A video series. You can submit questions for future videos on my Twitter page and make sure to use the hashtag #RoadToNoDQ1000.

You can leave a comment or question below and I’ll try to respond to as many people as possible!

Click here for the t-shirt page!

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Charlotte Appearing on the Next Season of Total Divas?

With Eva Marie not returning for the 7th season of Total Divas, WWE is interviewing other active female Superstars for the role on the show.

According to Pro Wrestling Sheet, Charlotte is one of the females have have been interviewed to join the cast of the upcoming season. A handful of other females have been interviewed as well however we are unable to confirm those names at this time.

In regards to Paige appearing on the next season, her status is unknown at this time. Nikki Bella, Brie Bella, Natalya and Naomi are a lock for the upcoming season.

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Reason Rusev Didn’t Appear on SmackDown Live Tonight

WWE announced on last week’s episode of SmackDown Live that Rusev would be returning on tonight’s show. For those who watched the show tonight would have noticed that he never appeared despite being advertised in their 5-point preview on WWE.com earlier today.

Rusev revealed on Twitter that he was at the Nashville Predators’ NHL game instead.

It’s very possible that he is using that excuse as part of storyline. We will keep you updated.

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The Taz Show Recap – Raw Analysis, Rollins’ Set For A Big Year, Presentation of Finn Balor, More!

Block 1:

Taz opens today’s show by discussing Braun Strowman’s elbow injury. Taz says that he believes WWE made a mistake by showing Strowman in the hospital bed on RAW last night, as he thought it made Strowman look too ‘human’. He also doesn’t think that Strowman will be out for 6 months like WWE has announced.

He doesn’t think that Roman Reigns will win the Fatal 5-way match at Extreme Rules, because he believes Reigns will go right back into another match with Strowman when he returns from his injury. Taz thinks Strowman’s recovery time will be closer to 2 months than the 6 that WWE announced.

A listener calls into the show and says he enjoyed Goldust turning on R-Truth on last night’s show. Taz says that this is a ‘C’ angle, and WWE needs to have those angles in order to keep everyone relevant. He says that having captivating angles throughout the entire roster is what made the attitude era so successful in his opinion.

Another listener calls into the show and says that both Alexa Bliss and A.J. Styles had good years last year as rookies, and he wonders if that gives WWE the confidence to push talent quicker. Taz says that wrestling  is a work, and Bliss and Styles had good years last year because the company pushed them. If WWE has faith in a performer, they’re going to book them to win more matches than they lose.

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Dinner with the King Recap – Thoughts on Rip Rogers/Randy Orton Tweets, Stiff Punches, Why Does Lawler Still Work the Indies? More!

Lawler opens today’s show speaking about this past weekend’s tweets from Rip Rogers and Randy Orton. First off, he says that he’s obviously a fan of Randy Orton and his work, and he’s been a fan of Rip Rogers for years. He thinks both of those men have a point in their concerns regarding the state of indie wrestling.

He believes that the issues lie in the fact that a lot of young indie performers are trying to get their foot in the door in the wrestling business. When they have an opportunity at an indie show, they try to do whatever they can to show the promoter that they’re worth hiring again for a future show.

Lawler agrees with Rogers in the sense that there’s no ‘kayfabe’ anymore. Performers work their match, shake each other’s hands and then go on social media and thank each other for the match. Lawler’s not sure that the performers are even to blame, because it’s the way the business has developed over the last number of years.

He also points out that competitors in all other sports often shake each other’s hand after their match or game, so perhaps it’s not the most ridiculous concept for wrestlers to congratulate each other and put each other over at the end of a match or a feud.