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CROWD NOISE AT MANIA, NEW CONTENT ADDED WHEN WWE GOES TO PEACOCK, MEN WRESTLING WOMEN AND MORE

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I noticed this week on AEW Dynamite they said "Bullet Club". At first I thought it was an accident, but then it happened a few more times. Should it be safe to assume they came to some sort of agreement with NJPW to legally be allowed to use that name?

I can't say it for a fact but I would also assume that a billionaire like Tony Khan would not use a property that he didn't have the right to use.

With all the potential for accidentally going over the top rope in the Royal Rumble, has it ever happened when someone was out when they were not supposed too?

Not that I remember.  I am sure if it happened someone will write and let me know!  Update, and they did let me know! John Cena and Batista hit the floor in 2005, causing Vince McMahon to storm out and restart the match, tearing his quads in the process!

I read your comments about Randy Orton giving the RKO to Alexa Bliss and it got me thinking about how America sees mixed gender wrestling. Take a look at EWW (Extreme World Wrestling) in the UK. Their champion for a few years was a woman and she really kicked ass and was believable in the role. Not only was she accepted, she was a big draw. Look at Paige’s Mum, legitimately hard as nails, men and women would know they’d been in a competitive match with her.  Is a solid worker a solid worker regardless of gender? And with the right booking could mixed gender matches be successful in the US? Replace Bliss with Mysterio and surely the only difference is her gender?

No, the only difference isn't gender.  It’s also size and body strength.  Bliss is 5 feet tall and around 100 pounds.  Rey is probably 5'6" and 180.  That is a huge difference is mass.  Here's my take.  Could, say, Ronda Rousey beat my behind easily?  Yup, she could.  She's a super talented and tough fighter.  But if she fought, say, Brock Lesnar in a shoot, he would destroy her.  There are some matches that have a believability factor to them.  If Ronda fought Marko Stunt, I would expect to easily win, for example.  But men are naturally bigger and stronger so to me it's just impossible to believe when they have inter gender matches.  To people who don't care about how realistic the fight is, I can see why they enjoy it though.

With the WWE Network being absorbed by Peacock in March will there still be classic content added each month?

It appears that way but we will know more when it happens.  I expect there to be new content added for a few reasons.  One, they own it and that's why they bought it and two WWE is still marketing and selling The Network outside of the US so it's in their best interest to make it as appealing as possible.  Plus, with the new deal they will be generating more income with less costs.  There is no reason not to keep adding content.

Piped in crowd noise has been a topic previously.  Unfortunately I found portions of Smackdown’s go-home Rumble show so frustrating!  Interviews and backstage segments are barely audible, to the point that I had to try close captioning to understand what people are saying!  The commentators are competing with it.  Every match sounds like a Money in the Bank cash in!  Wrestlers are getting the biggest pop of their careers and no one is in the building!  It’s an interesting dichotomy because real crowds have also been known to kill great matches.  With Wrestlemania supposedly having fans in attendance, have you heard any “rumblings” about the plan for crowd noise to be natural?  I’d hate for the biggest event of the year to be ruined by overly ambitious sound mixers.

I understand what you are saying, for sure.  It’s a delicate balance in piping in noise and being ridiculous.  What I hope happens is that the fans at Mania are similar to those that have been allowed at NFL games.  They have been making a lot of noise and I hope that the fans at Mania do too and that is enough for the company.  We shall see.

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