All-Purpose News Thread

[CDJ]

So soon after his wife passed. RIP legend

 

[Unholy Diver]

What a bummer, the Midnights were one of my first favorites when I started getting into wrestling, Bobby never had the chiseled look of many superstars of the 1980's but he was smooth in the ring, and by all accounts one of the nicest and sweetest people you could meet

 

[Bondurant]

What a bummer, the Midnights were one of my first favorites when I started getting into wrestling, Bobby never had the chiseled look of many superstars of the 1980's but he was smooth in the ring, and by all accounts one of the nicest and sweetest people you could meet

Considered by many wrestlers one of the best hands in the business in the 80's.

 

[reckoning]

Very saddened to hear about Bobby Eaton, one of my all-time favourites. An underrated wrestler who consistently churned out great matches. Loved the Midnight's feuds with the Rock n' Rolls and the Horsemen.

I remember back in the 80s thinking that Hulk Hogan's legdrop was such a lame finishing move, mostly because Bobby Eaton's legdrop off the top rope was far more impressive looking.

I know Cornette will have an amazing heartfelt tribute to him, but I don't think I can bring myself to look for it yet. It would be too sad to listen to now.

 

[BostonBob]

 

[BostonBob]

 

[keonsbitterness]

Jody Hamilton ( better known as The Assassin ) passed away today at the age of 82.

He made a few appearances on WCW in the early 90s, promoting a legends show if I remember correctly. Seeing that he was carrying a few extra pounds and his mask was extremely tight, Jesse Ventura couldn't resist and referred to him as "the svelte Assassin."

Bobby Eaton was underrated in the ring and damn funny when he was called upon to do some comedy.

RIP

 

[BostonBob]

He made a few appearances on WCW in the early 90s, promoting a legends show if I remember correctly.

That was for the Slamboree 93 PPV where they had a ceremony that opened the show honoring about 2 dozen greats from the past.

It was nicely done because it wasn't just NWA/WCW guys they honored: Stu Hart, Mad Dog Vachon, Verne Gagne, Fabulous Moolah and Greg Gagne were included. That PPV is probably best known for WCW pulling the old switcheroo on the fans. They had promised a reformation of the Four Horsemen and although they never came out and actually promised a Tully Blanchard return they certainly dropped a lot of hints in the weeks leading up to the show. When Paul Roma came out you could hear the collective groan coming from the crowd. And speaking of Paul Roma - I had completely forgotten that The Assassin managed Pretty Wonderful ( Roma and Orndorff ) for about a year and led them to the WCW Tag Team Championship.

 

[spintheblackcircle]

get ready for this guy

 

[Unholy Diver]

get ready for this guy

Soon to be Chad Gable's half brother

 

[Megahab]

American heavyweight winning Gold? WWE will be all over that.

 

[CDJ]

Eaton had the best leg drop in the history of the sport, ainec

 

[GKJ]

Sean Ross Sapp tweeting out more releases, these from NXT, which by the look of things seems to be getting gutted. Mercedes Martinez, Bronson Reed (who was getting try outs on main roster), Bobby Fish among them.

 

[BigFatCat999]

Imagine Punk and Danielson in a feud on AEW?

"I'M THE BEST IN THE WORLD!"

"NO! I AM!"

"NO! I AM!"

*Adam Cole and Kenta take them both out with reDRAGON clapping.*

 

[BostonBob]

Looks like all the releases today is just the start of some big changes on the way for NXT.

from pwinsider.com:

There is talk internally for “major changes for the NXT brand”. The company plans to focus on younger talent, and have a different format for the weekly television program. WWE is set to also introduce a new logo and make changes to the lighting of the shows. The releases tonight “appears to be part of those changes”.

NXT talent are historically bound by a 30-day non-compete clause when released.

It’s unknown if additional releases will be happening in the upcoming weeks ahead.

 

[iamjs]

 

[CDJ]

Really surprised they cut Bronson Reed

 

[GKJ]

I guess we’ll see if Adam Cole is in the budget. He was backstage at Smackdown.

 

[BostonBob]

No matter how you feel about Cornette you gotta feel for him here as he remembers Bobby Eaton:

 

[GKJ]

Triple H had zero involvement in the NXT cuts.

 

[Sheppy]

NXT is dying.

 

[GKJ]

NXT is dying.

They want it to go back to the pre-Sami Zayn era where evidently they can find box office draws and people who can main event Wrestlemania.

I think I said it but think back to when Charlotte went from trying to be a 14x champion. Now all of a sudden she’s an 11x champion. And that there’s been zero continuity between NXT and the main roster.

NXT lost the war and that’s the reality in Vince’s head, and the cronies who are back like John Laurinitis - notorious for hating the indies - who have Vince’s ear right now. So now it’s going to be repackaged an a true minor league like it was when Bo Dallas was champion.

Triple H also clearly has lost influence in this equation. There’s nothing out there right now that leads to him being the heir apparent to Vince.

A long way off from NXT being this huge worldwide thing with territories all over the world. It’s been many different things, it’s now just going to be this original thing.

I know that there has to be some belief now why they’re giving Karrion Kross such a shitty storyline where he’s getting buried.

 

[JackSlater]

I can understand Vince's frustration with NXT as a development territory. It wasn't really treated as a development territory for a long time and didn't produce a whole lot outside of signing guys who were already basically finished products. It became a solid "promotion" though and these changes will presumably ruin that. Overall this is unfortunate stuff and continues WWE's weird staffing practices lately.

 

[CDJ]

I did kinda like the NXT the Wyatt Family made their debut on. Kassius Ohno/Chris Hero’s 1st stint. Leo Kruger before the Adam rose gimmick. Tyler Breeze. Tyson Kidd. Both versions of The Ascension. Adrian Neville. Corey Graves. Big E Langston.


Just don’t go back to the game show lol

 

[GKJ]

I can understand Vince's frustration with NXT as a development territory. It wasn't really treated as a development territory for a long time and didn't produce a whole lot outside of signing guys who were already basically finished products. It became a solid "promotion" though and these changes will presumably ruin that. Overall this is unfortunate stuff and continues WWE's weird staffing practices lately.

At those times they weren’t supposed to be developmental in that sense, they were competing with ROH, then New Japan and indies, and then especially AEW.

now they can try to convince themselves that none of that ever happened. If you look at the NXT guys that were over to Vince, they’ve almost all exclusively been homegrown recruits with little (if any) indy experience. In that sense, it’s still always been what it’s been as a system and not as a TV product. Strowman and Mandy Rose were kept off NXT TV for those reasons.