Want more wrestling news, rumors, and results? Be sure to visit PWInsider.com and PWInsiderXtra.com.
You can send us questions for the PWInsider.com Q and A by clicking here.
I see that Finn Balor and Bayley worked some of the main roster house shows on the European Tour. Is this an indication they may be heading to the main roster in the not too distant future or is this just to promote the NXT shows that are coming up?
Don’t read too much into it. It’s partially to promote the NXT tour but also to get them some experience and add a perk to the people that attend the shows. WWE often has NXT workers do house shows.
With all the traveling everyone does do the wrestlers and everyone else pay for plane tickets and rental cars or does WWE help pay for that?
WWE pays for the airline tickets to get people to the show tours. In most cases, the talents then rent cars (provided that they don’t have a tour bus). When they are on overseas tours, they usually provide the transportation for the workers to get to the next towns.
So after Rhonda Rousey got destroyed at UFC last weekend, do you see Dana White loosening the reigns and allowing her to appear, or potentially perform, at WM32? Also, how much do you think Rhonda would help WWE in their effort to sell out in Dallas?
In a word, no. The money is in the rematch for Rousey against Holly Holm. Rousey has already stated that she will be shooting a movie around Mania time next year but no matter what, if I am Dana White, there is no way I let her do anything with WWE until I see what she can do in the rematch against Holm, which should be a big draw.
Looking at the way the brackets have been set up for the WWE title tournament, I think it's safe to say that WWE is going to have Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose battle it out in the final round, it's pretty obvious. If they are going that route, do you see them force turning one of them? Or would they go against what is second nature to them and let them go out and put on a great match and let the crowd decide who to cheer for? I can't help but see creative being short sighted and have Ambrose either sabotage Reigns "accidentally" in the semifinals, or lose to him in the finals and turn on him after the match or on Raw the next night.
John Cena is out for another month or so. Randy Orton is out longer. Undertaker and Brock Lesnar are part timers. The company needs babyfaces at the top of the card. I don’t want to see them turn Ambrose, mostly because they haven’t been committed to him thus far. My fear is if they turn him, it will just be to feed him to Reigns. On the other hand, Roman isn’t great on promos, and that would help him if he turned since he could do less of them, but from a storyline standpoint it would make no sense. Roman has been fighting against The Authority all year. He just turned down the chance to to join them. WWE turns people too often. It means more when it happens less. And don’t discount Kevin Owens. He could come out of the bracket and face Reigns in the final.
So it's clear the WWE roster isn't anywhere near strong enough when it comes to a split brand so why does WWE think it's ok to split the roster for house shows? I know injuries are playing a huge part and the money earned is the main reason but having gone to one of the UK shows this past week, it was so boring with pretty much zero star power. When you buy a ticket not knowing the lineup, when the likes of The Undertaker and HHH are in the UK anyway for Raw, how hard would it have been for at least a promo to compensate?
You answered your own question, it is all about the revenue that the shows bring in, especially in the European market, where they run so infrequently. It’s easy, good money for the company. Taker didn’t stay around after Raw (he had a TV appearance). HHH didn’t either, and even if he did, they don’t use him like that. You are right, when you buy your ticket you don’t know what you are getting but WWE would counter that you get “WWE Entertainmentâ€.
You can send us questions for the PWInsider.com Q&A by clicking here.
If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
Bang On Casino
