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In regard to questions about Dolph Ziggler signing a new contract with WWE, we have been told by numerous sources that as of this week, nothing has been signed and Ziggler's current deal is slated to expire this summer.
The first episode of Something Else To Wrestle With with Bruce Prichard and Conrad Thompson is now available on the WWE Network's VOD area in the Original Series section with the pair discussing all things Wrestlemania 14. The episode, which runs 104 minutes, breaks a lot of ground for the WWE Network as it skews very closesly to their podcast format, including discussion of Newsletter articles and reviews of the events, naming Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer, which has to be a first for WWE programming on any level. It's one thing for Triple H to talk to wrestling media at media events; it's another to reference that media in WWE-produced programming. This absolutely breaks the fourth wall in a lot of ways that WWE has never done before, to the point that at times Conrad Thompson looked like the cat who swallowed the canary with a "Can you believe they are letting us get away with this sh**?" smile. It was obvious Thompson did his homework and was ready for this and Bruce, well, he was Bruce, which is what people want to hear and see.
As a pilot, there were obvious ways to improve the production, but that's any show you produce for the first time. The show seemed subdued compared to some of the arguing that goes on during their regular podcast, but that may have been by design. I think diehard listeners will notice the difference, but if you were a first-time listener hearing the story of The Undertaker wrapping his fists backstage to insure Shawn Michaels did the job to Steve Austin that night, I'd think you'd probably love the show. A WWE show utilizing the inside history of WWE events (even if that history is simply Bruce's recolllections) has never been done on a full blown scale by the company, so this is really breaking lots of ground.
I am most curious in seeing how much WWE reigns this madness in, if at all, in the weeks to come. If this takes off, it really opens the door for WWE to do a lot more and there are certainly other legitimate podcasts and radio shows that would work in that format if WWE allowed creative freedom, especially The Taz Show or Jim Ross' podcast. If the show disappears, we'll know WWE threw it to the gallows because they didn't want that sort of discussion being legitimized under their umbrella.
WWE NXT has live event tonight in Washington, DC and Sanford, Florida. If anyone is attending the live events, we are seeing reports and results. You can email us by clicking any of our names in the bylines of any article.
Sports Illustrated has an article about Mick Foley's One Man Show celebrating the 20th Anniversary of his Hell in A Cell match against The Undertaker at this link Foley admitted, “I told Mr. McMahon two of the biggest lies of my life that day,” said Foley. “I told him I had been on top of the cell earlier that afternoon, and I told him that I felt completely comfortable up there. Had I gone up there for a walk-through, there would be no twentieth anniversary because I would have realized that getting thrown off was a terrible idea.” Thanks to Shannon.
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