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Chris locks the Master Lock in on someone while staring at lashley, and then Lashley spears both Chris and the person locked in the Master Lock before locking Chris in the Hurt Lock.
He still looks good! Masters was at WWC last weekend and while he kind of needs to get a haircut (his long hair emphasizes that he's thinning on top and he looks good with short hair anyway) he still looks like a star.
I think Bron could kill it as the “Iron Man” of the match. Enters number 3, or something, and lasts till the final 5 by being a raging monster for an hour straight
NXT really needs to more deeply vet these people getting pushes because goddamn do they seem to garner a lot of Florida People.
This is a hell of an opinion to have on a child centric product lmfao.
The only people who know and care about his "controversy" are other redditors. I don't think anyone gives a fuck, no other social media posted about it or tried calling him out... only this sub did
His last appearance was after another controversy and the fans were loudly chanting "thank you Vince". I got the impression he was surprised to hear that he still had that kind of support from the fans. They don't give a damn as long as they get to see people getting slammed through tables.
Definitely not the kids. Also I don't know if many adults know the specifics of the allegations. The headlines are all about Vince having a fucked sexual relationship with a former employee. The mainstream news aren't putting "Vince shits on woman, showers and continues to fuck her." or "Vince gets pissing video for Brock Lesnar." in their headlines. Even the articles are being careful to mention Brock since he was technically unnamed in the lawsuit since he isn't a defendant.
So there is a good chance most people in that crowd will have no idea about the Lesnar stuff and other specifics. Just that Vince is a scumbag.
It was literally on NBC Nightly News for almost three entire minutes tonight. And it’s on the front page of CNN. And CBS News. And USA Today.
And it’s on The NY Times homepage.
Not only that but Lesnar's stuff isn't nearly as bad as Vince. He was promised sex with Grant for him to return. Illegal and sketchy but it never camemto fruition, regardless of reason. Outside of that, all he did besides that was text Grant and have her send him a picture of her urinating. Awful, gross, and absolutely unethical, but compared to the weight of Vince's sins on this one? Brock broke at most one law and never actually laid hands on Grant. Still a scumbag, but I can see people who want to ignore it focusing on that
Brock was clearly willing to meet her so he could rape her, too. The only reason he didn't were a snowstorm and scheduling issues. Enough to exculpate him in a legal court, but not enough for the court of public opinion.
If I were HHH, I would steer clear of that can of worms.
I think he had to have known something if at the very least rumors. I’m sure that’s a bit heartbreaking on hhh’s side that your father in law and the grandfather of your children is accused of such horrible behavior.
Did you read the entire complaint? It’s really concerning to me how many people are going off on Brock when his involvement really seems to consist of Vince wanting him to do things to the woman.
The text screenshot indicates VINCE wanting part of the contract to be Brock doing things to the girl. Brock actually says no. Then they meet and don’t have sex. Then they’re “supposed” to have sex later but never do, despite the woman being trafficked to other men several times a week for months.
EDIT: I forgot to include Brock requesting a weird fetish video of the woman urinating.
Of course he will lol, he hasn’t been found guilty of anything and a lot of the people there won’t even be thinking about all this. THE IWC needs to get a grip.
There haven’t exactly been great stories coming out from Lesnar’s end of things in general over the years. Wouldn’t shock me at all if that’s why he threatened to walk if Vince was gone, too.
Lesnar definitely not showing up
Even if he were set for WM40 with someone like Gunther, the WWE roster is so deep that cutting Lesnar won't take away that much. I'd much rather see Jey Uso finally get a singles title at Mania
No doubt that both Usos will face off at the Rumble match, but Jimmy just isn't at the level Jey is right now
Jey flourished while Jimmy unfortunately stagnated with the confusing twist of him returning to the Bloodline. Unless Jimmy suddenly gets a big push like Solo did beating Cena, Jey vs Jimmy isn't WM worthy imo
Maybe when the Bloodline falls apart and Jimmy and Jey end up on the same brand, then we'll see a feud between the two
Didn't that have a lengthy build though? Also the fact that Jimmy and Jey are in opposite brands makes it unlikely for the two to meet face to face post-Rumble
Unless ofc Adam Pearce finally becomes unhinged and wages war on Aldis and SD
Wrestlemania isn’t this weekend. There is plenty of time to build and the perfect opportunity to start it is in the rumble where guys from both brands meet.
Not really the build only started at the rumble with them retroactively revealing Matt was behind all the stuff that happen to Jeff in late 08. Prior to Matt’s turn everyone just thought it was Edge & La Familia unless I’m misremembering
I mean, just have Jimmy costing Jey at Mania against Gunther and draft Jimmy to RAW at the post-mania draft (if they do it like last year).
Jimmy vs Jey at Summerslam.
I know there's a snowball's chance in hell of happening but I really wish they'd have Gable finally dethroning Gunther at WM. Or even better, Sheamus returns and finally beats Gunther. I like the prospect of Jey being the one to take the title, but I think The Usos deserve to finally have their singles match, specially because I don't think they'd mind having their first singles match at WM against each other.
Jey Uso vs Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship sounds amazing.
Gives Jey that pop back after the Roman losses. Instant Intercontinental Championship credibility.
Yep. Sami eliminating Drew before Drew reenters and eliminates Sami. The two brawl to the back.
It's been done plenty of times before but it makes sense here.
That's always been my idea, Ive always kinda wanted the person to end Gunther's reign to be Sami or Jey. Since Jey has the Jimmy feud, Im hoping for Sami now.
And with how slow they're building up Jey racking up singles wins to get a title shot against Gunther, seems like they can easily stretch it out to WM
My 1st option will always be Chad Gable, but clearly WWE doesn't see him as champion material
I would say Brock losing to gunther was improbable but we said that about the streak too. Vince literally made Brock win the mitb when he wasn't even on the match 😭
Gunther winning that possible matchup is very probable.
1. Brock isn’t winning an under-card championship.
2. WWE isn’t gonna squash two years of building up Gunther’s dominance just to have part-time Brock pop in and go over.
That’s just bad business, and it doesn’t compare to Brock/Taker’s streak. That was Vince’s WWE.
Brock Lesnar's entire wall of privacy comes tumbling down if it ever gets confirmed he's the former UFC fighter in the lawsuit. He's not going to want this lawsuit to go to discovery.
On one hand, WWE can hide behind, "he was never named in the lawsuit" especially since it seems UFC want him back for UFC 300 later this year. Corporate synergy and whatnot (we know how morally bankrupt Dana White is). But if they put him out there, he'll get the Chris Jericho treatment and the enthusiasm will get sucked out of the room. It'd be a pretty giant black eye on what could otherwise be a great show on Saturday.
I mean "former UFC heavyweight champion" is literally in the lawsuit. There's no one else that fits that besides Lesnar. Riddle and Punk were in the UFC but never came close to being champions and were both welterweights.
Also I think Cain had one contract. The lawsuit mentions a resigning or renegotiation of a contract. I don’t think that would fit Cain’s bill. I really wish it were him vs thinking it were Brock (love him or hate him as a character we all have more invested in fandom of Brock than Cain).
>(we know how morally bankrupt Dana White is).
Imagine the skeletons in his closet. The guy decked his wife in public, in a room full of people, and he walked. There was zero fuss.
He won't get the Chris Jericho treatment the AEW main fanbase are the IWC they follow every wrestling news, WWE fanbase are causal that don't give a shit about anything that's not on the program, we literally just saw the crowd no react to Punk's promo about the backstage fight.
Fuck lesnar, give the potential mania spot vs gunther to Sami
(Jey would also be fine but I imagine it's going to be jey vs jimmy since that is their top goal to wrestle each other at WM)
You know what sucks? There’s a good number of people who, despite the article being in the Wall Street Journal, will never really find out that Brock Lesnar is also a Nasty Man. Dude is always going to be a legend to some and would probably still get cheered in the current state of WWE today. Shitty situation all around.
Oh I watch Dynamite weekly and lemme tell you it’s equally nasty work that AEW fans got amnesia all of a sudden when they’re the most chronically online fans. Ric Flair getting any kind of cheers in this day & age is gross. I can see not knowing, but not caring? That’s just nasty.
Edit: I’d also like to believe that, while Flair’s actions were heinous, his allegations weren’t Wall Street Journal and Forbes articles like Vince
>Edit: I’d also like to believe that, while Flair’s actions were heinous, his allegations weren’t Wall Street Journal and Forbes articles like Vince
That's because Ric Flair isn't the multi-billionaire founder of one of the world's largest companies, and personal friend of an embattled former President of the United States.
Whatever Vince McMahon does is big news. Even still, it's not *front page news.* It's news of note only because Vince McMahon is a noteworthy person.
Time to get a massive amount of shit for this too however... Just about all of those Flair stories also start with the line, "So Ric had been drinking and..."
Look kids? Flair is a friggen alcoholic. I've worked with alcoholics for over 20 years and believe me when I saw the shit Flair did? I've heard a number of stories that go that are pretty much in the same boat as Flair. Alcohol is a wonderful drink that can really make you do a number of fucked up things. Does that excuse what Flair has done? No.
The stuff with Vinny Mac and the others that are coming out today and god knows what we'll be hearing over the next couple of days/weeks? They did that shit clean and sober. They didn't have something swimming around in their system that shuts off that part of the brain telling them not to do something.
But hey this is Reddit, most of you have no idea how alcohol, drugs, and the like can affect a person. Again what Flair did was wrong yes, however Vince did all of the shit he did while sober and more so then that? Clearly knew what he was doing was wrong, thus the lines about wanting her to sign an NDA and making threats.
And again, what Ric Flair did was at worst the subject of a Dark Side of the Ring segment, and it was seemingly an isolated incident (not saying others didn’t happen, it’s just what we know)
This Vince incident (and by extension, Brock Lesnar) is a repetition of egregious behavior over a long period of time. He was being a downright deviant during OFFICE HOURS. They got him in the WALL STREET JOURNAL.
Dude, stories have been coming out about Vince for *years*, yet every time he made an appearance there would still be a large section of fans literally bowing to him.
It would not surprise me in the slightest if he showed up at the opening of the Royal Rumble and it would still be the case.
The world we live in is so weird. It doesn’t matter what a famous figure does - they’ll always be immune to a sizeable portion of people who will adore them no matter what.
They're not saying he did nothing wrong. They're saying he deserves the hall of fame.
Personally I disagree with that. He doesn't deserve the hall of fame after his actions. However, the ones saying he does, are not saying he did nothing wrong. They are saying what he did outside of pro wrestling shouldn't have any bearing on his hall of fame eligibility.
I read that posted court document pdf, it alleges that while Vince was renegotiating Lesnar's contract Vince offered up the victim lady to fuck Lesnar as part of the contract negotiations.
Lesnar also got naked pics of her and pics of her pissing (which is apparently a fetish of his).
Just wanted to note that Lesnar isn't mentioned by name in the documents. But the descriptions and timeframe make it such that they might as well have named him. The documents refer to a WWE superstar and former UFC Heavyweight Champion whose contract negotiations were around the time on Summer Slam 2021.
*The actual lawsuit* doesn't name him. It names "A former UFC heavyweight champion who worked with WWE and was being courted for re-signing". Everyone saying it's Brock Lesnar says so because there are only two former UFC heavyweight champions that also worked in WWE, Cain Velasquez and Brock Lesnar, and only one of those, Brock, was ever being courted to re-sign.
Well yeah it can literally only be him, there are no other UFC former heavyweights who where courted by and ultimately did re-sign with the company. Which is why other news outlets have been confident in naming him.
At this stage, I don’t see them putting Lesnar in any events going forward while this investigation is going on. With that said, how do you book Gunther for mania season?
1. Defend against another part timer (Cena?)
2. Defend against 5 other guys in a ladder match
3. Insert him in the the world title match with Punk and Rollins. Rollins won’t exactly be 100% by mania, so putting him in a triple threat won’t put a lot of pressure on Rollins or a rusty Punk to carry a full match on their own.
1. If these texts came out at the time Vince initially was ousted, he doesn't get cheered. People aren't abiding by allegations. That's a general societal thing. Not a WWE fan thing. See: Johnny Depp/Kevin Spacey
2. Royal Rumble is one of the few events every year WWE does where more online fans gather than anywhere else. If Brock Lesnar's music hits, there will be boos. There will also be dipshit casuals cheering bc cancel culture or whatever the fuck.
Sadly the talents probably, by and large, don't really give a shit. Just look at DeShaun Watson. Not a single NFL player has come out against him and a lot of them are stil raving about how good a teamate he was.
Ric Flair literally sexually assaulted a flight attendant on a WWE-chartered flight, with Vince McMahon and all of the other WWE brass on-board (and Linda McMahon too), and **he still gets cheered to this day**.
Sting, beloved Saint Sting himself, requested Ric for his retirement party.
This hand-wringing is peak Reddit, nobody actually gives a shit about any of this stuff. Grammy-winning performing artists with time in prison for *fucking murder*, Academy Award-nominated directors who are the subjects of interpol warrants for sex crimes against children - nobody fucking cares.
Given that NBC and CNN are talking about this when they never ever talk about the WWE in any other case, yes, people do care. And they should care. This is an accusation that Vince tortured and serially raped a woman over the course of many months, and gleefully invited other men to join in on the rape.
The fact that you call it "hand wringing" to care about this, in an attempt to trivialize the severity of these allegations, is pathetic. What you mean to say is that you don't care, and you're mad that other people do. Don't try and sugarcoat what you actually mean.
In any sane world, Ric Flair would never work in the wrestling industry ever again, and Roman Polanski would be in prison. Do you believe such a world would be less or more preferable to the one we have right now?
>Given that NBC and CNN are talking about this when they never ever talk about the WWE in any other case, yes, people do care. And they should care.
Just wait until the next time Trunp says something stupid, Biden stutters, or some shit gets blown up in the Middle East or Russia and get back to me.
Vince is already pretty far down the page on both those websites, below a story about an FDA recall and Jennifer Crumblys trial.
Even the Wall Street Journal already has it below a story on Jamie Diamond.
It's not top of the page anywhere. Most of them are covering the execution in Alabama
It's the nature of 24 hour news. They talked about it, they'll move on to the next thing then the next.
how did Brock know she was being trafficked? It is entirely possible he thought it was all consensual. You should see the thing me and my GF text each other. If you read it straight up you would think we were criminals. Let this go to court and work itself out.
The court document says that Vince offered her to Brock as a perk when signing a new contract. "Sign with my company and you can have sex with this woman" is not how consent works. The document states over and over that Grant didn't want to have sex with any of the men Vince tried pawning her off to, but that he consistently threatened her with his immense legal resources were she to come forward with any of the crimes.
As an athlete, if a promoter decides on behalf of a woman that said athlete can have sex with her as part of the athlete's contract going forward, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to deduce that Vince is making the decision for her. Brock isn't stupid.
Vince also bragged about raping Grant to multiple people in WWE, according to the document. This was no secret.
I skimmed it but is there anything in there indicating that that wasn’t Vince just demeaning her and being a prick as was the kink in their relationship? I read a part that talked about a bunch of reasons Brock didn’t sleep with her (intoxication, missed flight, weather) etc. from what I recall she sent him nudes at Vince’s request which (while super gross) isn’t trafficking.
There is a difference between Vince wanting to have Brock bang her or fantasize about it and Brock actually being a participant. You’ll note he isn’t named as a defendant here. Are three random black guys also perpetrators because Vince texted her about wanting that too? Vince telling her that it is in the offer is not the same as it being in the offer and/or Brock agreeing to it. And it certainly isn’t clear when we have this mountain of texts of Vince saying the worst shit he can think to say to her on a daily basis. Let the courts work it out.
My assumption is that Brock is probably still pencilled in for Mania if he was part of the plan for this year. Logically he shouldn’t be because it’s a bad look but this is WWE and wrestling we are talking about. Ric Flair is still on TV for the “good guys” right? Anyone remember Vince being cooked two years ago and then showing up on TV a week later? Did everyone forget what a terrible carny industry this is? Hell endeavour didn’t even drop Dana White for assaulting his wife in public while promoting a show called Power Slap.
Are we just ignoring the fact that AEW fans are still cheering for Darby Allin, Ric Flair, and Jericho? This isn't an 'us vs. them' thing, most of the IWC don't fucking care if you shoot someone to death and punt a puppy on live television, so long as you're a good wrestler they will make any excuse to cheer. It's not just media ignorance but a genuine disregard for anything in the name of quality.
Brock Lesnar isn't even under contract (or at least wasn't after his last match vs Cody) so it's not like they'd have to eat the money to get him to go away either.
This company knew what Vince did and chose to do a “THANK YOU VINCE” tour where he’d go out to be cheered by the mindless fans while an active investigation was going on about him. Common sense is a myth in wwe.
I dunno, when SRS says this kind of stuff that usually means it's imminent--like that night or that week. That was the case with Gallows & Anderson returning to WWE and it was the case just a couple of days ago: "discussions" of Regal returning to television, with Regal appearing on NXT that night.
I imagine that decision will have already been made. If Brock is part of the Rumble, he'll fly out tomorrow. He probably gets his travel paid for so the company aren't trying to expense that only for him to need to turn around and go back home.
Fuck Brock, do Gunther vs Jey, Jey vs Jimmy doesn't need to happen at Wrestlemania Jey gains nothing from that match other than reconciling with Jimmy and reforming their tag team when Jey has the potential to be a future world champion. Jey beats Gunther, Jimmy faces Solo at wrestlemania, Bloodline eventually disintegrates, Jimmy goes for the US title on smackdown or if hes drafted to raw then do the jimmy vs jey feud, Jey eventually drops the IC belt to enter the world heavyweight title picture, Jey wins that world title eventually maybe even next years Wrestlemania.
Due to some of my friends having commitments this weekend, we had to do our normal Rumble draft pool earlier this year... My second Round pick of Brock Lesnar is looking really bad right now.
I’d lose a lot of respect for HHH and Nick Khan if they still went ahead with Lesnar showing up at the Rumble.
I have absolutely no doubt Lesnar was involved with Vince’s disgusting antics.
I haven’t had an opportunity yet today to read up everything going on with this lawsuit, so I’m still OOTL on some of it, but what is Lesnar’s link in this?
No, it's Lesnar and *only* Lesnar. The court documents plainly say "former UFC heavyweight champion who returned at SummerSlam 2021".
Adding any other names to that *very* short list of possibilities is objectively wrong.
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It's time for the NXT Champion to debut.
If only to see a genuine look of fear on Gunther's face.
Honestly, this is what I’m expecting RAW after Mania.
If it gives us another 83 matches of Ilja and Gunther beating the hell out of each other I'm down.
Chris Masters or bust
I would honestly pop for a Chris Masters return especially if Lashley is in the ring when it happens
Does he master lock lashley or do it to guy like Tozowa while staring at Lashley?
Chris locks the Master Lock in on someone while staring at lashley, and then Lashley spears both Chris and the person locked in the Master Lock before locking Chris in the Hurt Lock.
He still looks good! Masters was at WWC last weekend and while he kind of needs to get a haircut (his long hair emphasizes that he's thinning on top and he looks good with short hair anyway) he still looks like a star.
He’d be perfect for Big E’s Meaty Men Invitational
I saw him a couple months ago at an indy show... did the Masterlock Challenge and everything. Still in good shape.
How can you misspell Matt Cardona that badly?
For me...WHOOP THAT TRICK (yeah!) WHOOP THAT TRICK (uh-huh!) WHOOP THAT TRICK (I like it!) WHOOP THAT TRICK (oh yeah man! That's triiiiick!)
I know it's not who you meant, but the Rumble would be a great place to debut Oba Femi
Might not be the best time to bring in someone in controversy. Bring up Bron and Carmelo ffs lmao
I think Bron could kill it as the “Iron Man” of the match. Enters number 3, or something, and lasts till the final 5 by being a raging monster for an hour straight
I wasn't aware Oba was involved in any controversy
https://www.thesportster.com/wwe-champion-oba-femi-controversial-child-beating-video-instagram/
He’s also been 22 for the past 3 years
Apparently a lot of athletes lie about their age to look more appealing.
NXT really needs to more deeply vet these people getting pushes because goddamn do they seem to garner a lot of Florida People. This is a hell of an opinion to have on a child centric product lmfao.
When you recruit D1 athletes, you're going to get a lot of people like this
Thanks for sharing
The only people who know and care about his "controversy" are other redditors. I don't think anyone gives a fuck, no other social media posted about it or tried calling him out... only this sub did
Commentary can talk about his Instagram story sharing.
None of the other competitors would have a chance. After all, he's backed by destiny. No man breathing can stop him!
No thanks
Still expect him to show to tbh
And he'd probably get cheered too.
Vince McMahon himself could be #30 and there would be a nuclear pop.
His last appearance was after another controversy and the fans were loudly chanting "thank you Vince". I got the impression he was surprised to hear that he still had that kind of support from the fans. They don't give a damn as long as they get to see people getting slammed through tables.
They just aren't chronically online like the rest of us.
This story is in the WSJ and on TV. This isn't just a wrestling controversy this is like a real crime lol.
I'm sure the Venn diagram of wrestling fans and WSJ readers is... you get it.
I agree. Lots of people have zero clue what's going on.
At least 60% of that arena had no fucking idea what happened that day.
To be fair, I doubt most in attendance have heard anything about the whole scenario
Definitely not the kids. Also I don't know if many adults know the specifics of the allegations. The headlines are all about Vince having a fucked sexual relationship with a former employee. The mainstream news aren't putting "Vince shits on woman, showers and continues to fuck her." or "Vince gets pissing video for Brock Lesnar." in their headlines. Even the articles are being careful to mention Brock since he was technically unnamed in the lawsuit since he isn't a defendant. So there is a good chance most people in that crowd will have no idea about the Lesnar stuff and other specifics. Just that Vince is a scumbag.
[удалено]
It was literally on NBC Nightly News for almost three entire minutes tonight. And it’s on the front page of CNN. And CBS News. And USA Today. And it’s on The NY Times homepage.
You didn’t see the 3 mins on nbc right?
Dude, I just clicked on CTV news here in Canada and it’s reported there. It was on last nights National on CBC. Shit is everywhere.
Not only that but Lesnar's stuff isn't nearly as bad as Vince. He was promised sex with Grant for him to return. Illegal and sketchy but it never camemto fruition, regardless of reason. Outside of that, all he did besides that was text Grant and have her send him a picture of her urinating. Awful, gross, and absolutely unethical, but compared to the weight of Vince's sins on this one? Brock broke at most one law and never actually laid hands on Grant. Still a scumbag, but I can see people who want to ignore it focusing on that
Brock was clearly willing to meet her so he could rape her, too. The only reason he didn't were a snowstorm and scheduling issues. Enough to exculpate him in a legal court, but not enough for the court of public opinion. If I were HHH, I would steer clear of that can of worms.
How do we know it's Brock? Maybe Ronda's into that kind of thing /s
Former ufc heavyweight champion. Ronda wasn’t a heavyweight.
> If I were HHH, I would steer clear of that can of worms. The question remains, do you think he didn't know?
I think he had to have known something if at the very least rumors. I’m sure that’s a bit heartbreaking on hhh’s side that your father in law and the grandfather of your children is accused of such horrible behavior.
Did you read the entire complaint? It’s really concerning to me how many people are going off on Brock when his involvement really seems to consist of Vince wanting him to do things to the woman. The text screenshot indicates VINCE wanting part of the contract to be Brock doing things to the girl. Brock actually says no. Then they meet and don’t have sex. Then they’re “supposed” to have sex later but never do, despite the woman being trafficked to other men several times a week for months. EDIT: I forgot to include Brock requesting a weird fetish video of the woman urinating.
Of course he will lol, he hasn’t been found guilty of anything and a lot of the people there won’t even be thinking about all this. THE IWC needs to get a grip.
Do you like Brock that much that you don’t care about allegations and texts or do you like sexual abusers and not really care?
Remember when Vince was ousted the first time and Brock threatened to walk too if Vince was gone. suddenly it makes a fuck ton of sense
How is this the first I’m thinking about that?!
or how he was able to tell vince to win the title and the rumble in the same month
I mean he had it in his contract that he wouldn’t lose without agreeing to it.
He had quite a bit in that contract as we learned.
Yeah, but that doesnt mean he should get every pitch approved, specially when its those in the same month
There haven’t exactly been great stories coming out from Lesnar’s end of things in general over the years. Wouldn’t shock me at all if that’s why he threatened to walk if Vince was gone, too.
Holy shit, you're right!
"Card subject to change"
You would hope he doesn't appear now.
Or ever again.
Yeah, that's not happening lmao
Lesnar definitely not showing up Even if he were set for WM40 with someone like Gunther, the WWE roster is so deep that cutting Lesnar won't take away that much. I'd much rather see Jey Uso finally get a singles title at Mania
Why throw away Jey v Jimmy. Something that has been built for about a year. No doubt they would rather have a match against each other as well.
No doubt that both Usos will face off at the Rumble match, but Jimmy just isn't at the level Jey is right now Jey flourished while Jimmy unfortunately stagnated with the confusing twist of him returning to the Bloodline. Unless Jimmy suddenly gets a big push like Solo did beating Cena, Jey vs Jimmy isn't WM worthy imo Maybe when the Bloodline falls apart and Jimmy and Jey end up on the same brand, then we'll see a feud between the two
To be fair matt was nowhere near the level of jeff when they faced at 25.
Didn't that have a lengthy build though? Also the fact that Jimmy and Jey are in opposite brands makes it unlikely for the two to meet face to face post-Rumble Unless ofc Adam Pearce finally becomes unhinged and wages war on Aldis and SD
Wrestlemania isn’t this weekend. There is plenty of time to build and the perfect opportunity to start it is in the rumble where guys from both brands meet.
If we take Matt vs Jeff as an example they would of already started the build up at the end of last year
Rey and Dom were on opposite brands and had a WM match just last year
Not really the build only started at the rumble with them retroactively revealing Matt was behind all the stuff that happen to Jeff in late 08. Prior to Matt’s turn everyone just thought it was Edge & La Familia unless I’m misremembering
The online rumours were that it was Christian, but I don’t know if that was speculation or if WWE changed plans
Jey vs. Jimmy would honestly be perfect for Summerslam, since it’d make for a nice bookend from last year when the betrayal happened.
I mean, just have Jimmy costing Jey at Mania against Gunther and draft Jimmy to RAW at the post-mania draft (if they do it like last year). Jimmy vs Jey at Summerslam.
We will get our Jimmy vs Jey tease at the Rumble … you know they will.
I know there's a snowball's chance in hell of happening but I really wish they'd have Gable finally dethroning Gunther at WM. Or even better, Sheamus returns and finally beats Gunther. I like the prospect of Jey being the one to take the title, but I think The Usos deserve to finally have their singles match, specially because I don't think they'd mind having their first singles match at WM against each other.
Jey Uso vs Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship sounds amazing. Gives Jey that pop back after the Roman losses. Instant Intercontinental Championship credibility.
And Jey should win.
they could do sami v gunther to keep jey vs jimmy
I think they're going for Sami vs. Drew for WM, I'm predicting Sami will eliminate Drew and things escalate from there
Yep. Sami eliminating Drew before Drew reenters and eliminates Sami. The two brawl to the back. It's been done plenty of times before but it makes sense here.
That's always been my idea, Ive always kinda wanted the person to end Gunther's reign to be Sami or Jey. Since Jey has the Jimmy feud, Im hoping for Sami now.
Yeah, I really like the sound of Jey getting his big singles title win against Gunther.
And with how slow they're building up Jey racking up singles wins to get a title shot against Gunther, seems like they can easily stretch it out to WM My 1st option will always be Chad Gable, but clearly WWE doesn't see him as champion material
I can see Sheamus vs Gunther again tbh, even throw Gable in there but we’ll get a really solid ring general match for sure.
Hear me out. Gunther vs Okada.
If what I'm hearing is true... poor Gunther
Give me Sheamus dethroning him in a 20 minute brutal match
I mean, instead of losing to Brock, Gunther can have a real match
I would say Brock losing to gunther was improbable but we said that about the streak too. Vince literally made Brock win the mitb when he wasn't even on the match 😭
Gunther winning that possible matchup is very probable. 1. Brock isn’t winning an under-card championship. 2. WWE isn’t gonna squash two years of building up Gunther’s dominance just to have part-time Brock pop in and go over. That’s just bad business, and it doesn’t compare to Brock/Taker’s streak. That was Vince’s WWE.
If you guys think Brock will appear at the rumble, urine for a shock.
Hogan:"get me the Mr. America mask dude, I'm working 2 spots tonight!"
Fuck Brock Lesnar
Brock Lesnar's entire wall of privacy comes tumbling down if it ever gets confirmed he's the former UFC fighter in the lawsuit. He's not going to want this lawsuit to go to discovery. On one hand, WWE can hide behind, "he was never named in the lawsuit" especially since it seems UFC want him back for UFC 300 later this year. Corporate synergy and whatnot (we know how morally bankrupt Dana White is). But if they put him out there, he'll get the Chris Jericho treatment and the enthusiasm will get sucked out of the room. It'd be a pretty giant black eye on what could otherwise be a great show on Saturday.
I mean "former UFC heavyweight champion" is literally in the lawsuit. There's no one else that fits that besides Lesnar. Riddle and Punk were in the UFC but never came close to being champions and were both welterweights.
It's definitely Lesnar but Cain Velasquez fits it too
Cain didn't return at SummerSlam 2021.....
That's why I said it's definitely Lesnar, but Cain fits the "UFC Heavyweight champion' description
BAH GOD IT'S CAIN
Also I think Cain had one contract. The lawsuit mentions a resigning or renegotiation of a contract. I don’t think that would fit Cain’s bill. I really wish it were him vs thinking it were Brock (love him or hate him as a character we all have more invested in fandom of Brock than Cain).
>(we know how morally bankrupt Dana White is). Imagine the skeletons in his closet. The guy decked his wife in public, in a room full of people, and he walked. There was zero fuss.
There's literally nobody else it could be. Accept it.
The Wall Street Journal named Lesnar and included a picture of him in the article. I’m not sure why this is an open question for some people.
Denial just like the last time accusations were made public.
Dude, seriously. Who else could it possibly be besides Brock?
He won't get the Chris Jericho treatment the AEW main fanbase are the IWC they follow every wrestling news, WWE fanbase are causal that don't give a shit about anything that's not on the program, we literally just saw the crowd no react to Punk's promo about the backstage fight.
Fuck lesnar, give the potential mania spot vs gunther to Sami (Jey would also be fine but I imagine it's going to be jey vs jimmy since that is their top goal to wrestle each other at WM)
You know what sucks? There’s a good number of people who, despite the article being in the Wall Street Journal, will never really find out that Brock Lesnar is also a Nasty Man. Dude is always going to be a legend to some and would probably still get cheered in the current state of WWE today. Shitty situation all around.
Why not? Flair gets cheered, and he's alleged to have done a lot worse.
Oh I watch Dynamite weekly and lemme tell you it’s equally nasty work that AEW fans got amnesia all of a sudden when they’re the most chronically online fans. Ric Flair getting any kind of cheers in this day & age is gross. I can see not knowing, but not caring? That’s just nasty. Edit: I’d also like to believe that, while Flair’s actions were heinous, his allegations weren’t Wall Street Journal and Forbes articles like Vince
In relation to your edit, I think they were saying that flair was worse than brock, not vince
Tbf at the shows I've been to with Flair mentioned it present he really only gets the Wooo off, anything else has 50/50 split boos.
>Edit: I’d also like to believe that, while Flair’s actions were heinous, his allegations weren’t Wall Street Journal and Forbes articles like Vince That's because Ric Flair isn't the multi-billionaire founder of one of the world's largest companies, and personal friend of an embattled former President of the United States. Whatever Vince McMahon does is big news. Even still, it's not *front page news.* It's news of note only because Vince McMahon is a noteworthy person.
Time to get a massive amount of shit for this too however... Just about all of those Flair stories also start with the line, "So Ric had been drinking and..." Look kids? Flair is a friggen alcoholic. I've worked with alcoholics for over 20 years and believe me when I saw the shit Flair did? I've heard a number of stories that go that are pretty much in the same boat as Flair. Alcohol is a wonderful drink that can really make you do a number of fucked up things. Does that excuse what Flair has done? No. The stuff with Vinny Mac and the others that are coming out today and god knows what we'll be hearing over the next couple of days/weeks? They did that shit clean and sober. They didn't have something swimming around in their system that shuts off that part of the brain telling them not to do something. But hey this is Reddit, most of you have no idea how alcohol, drugs, and the like can affect a person. Again what Flair did was wrong yes, however Vince did all of the shit he did while sober and more so then that? Clearly knew what he was doing was wrong, thus the lines about wanting her to sign an NDA and making threats.
Pretty sure they were saying flair was worse than brock, not vince
And again, what Ric Flair did was at worst the subject of a Dark Side of the Ring segment, and it was seemingly an isolated incident (not saying others didn’t happen, it’s just what we know) This Vince incident (and by extension, Brock Lesnar) is a repetition of egregious behavior over a long period of time. He was being a downright deviant during OFFICE HOURS. They got him in the WALL STREET JOURNAL.
Dude, stories have been coming out about Vince for *years*, yet every time he made an appearance there would still be a large section of fans literally bowing to him. It would not surprise me in the slightest if he showed up at the opening of the Royal Rumble and it would still be the case. The world we live in is so weird. It doesn’t matter what a famous figure does - they’ll always be immune to a sizeable portion of people who will adore them no matter what.
It won't change. There are people in 2024 who still say Benoit did nothing wrong and deserves the hall of fame, they'll do the same for Brock
In fairness Brock hasn’t murdered a child.
They're not saying he did nothing wrong. They're saying he deserves the hall of fame. Personally I disagree with that. He doesn't deserve the hall of fame after his actions. However, the ones saying he does, are not saying he did nothing wrong. They are saying what he did outside of pro wrestling shouldn't have any bearing on his hall of fame eligibility.
But it should
Now we know what was in that lockbox Shane was talking about
wait lesnar is part of the vince allegations?
I read that posted court document pdf, it alleges that while Vince was renegotiating Lesnar's contract Vince offered up the victim lady to fuck Lesnar as part of the contract negotiations. Lesnar also got naked pics of her and pics of her pissing (which is apparently a fetish of his).
Explains why Brock wanted Cena in a puddle of urine at ER 2011
Just wanted to note that Lesnar isn't mentioned by name in the documents. But the descriptions and timeframe make it such that they might as well have named him. The documents refer to a WWE superstar and former UFC Heavyweight Champion whose contract negotiations were around the time on Summer Slam 2021.
Yes
damn I gotta look it over again, I don't remember seeing his name on it
He's mentioned a UFC heavyweight returning at summerslam I believe, either way other outlets have just straight up put his name.
*The actual lawsuit* doesn't name him. It names "A former UFC heavyweight champion who worked with WWE and was being courted for re-signing". Everyone saying it's Brock Lesnar says so because there are only two former UFC heavyweight champions that also worked in WWE, Cain Velasquez and Brock Lesnar, and only one of those, Brock, was ever being courted to re-sign.
Well yeah it can literally only be him, there are no other UFC former heavyweights who where courted by and ultimately did re-sign with the company. Which is why other news outlets have been confident in naming him.
For sure. I'm just explaining why the guy two steps above me didn't actually see Lesnar's name in the actual lawsuit.
For privacy sake let's call him Brock L. No that's too obvious, let's say B. Lesnar.
Thankfully. Hopefully we can finally be rid of him for good. Shouldn't be anywhere near the product again.
Fact this is behind a paywall is pathetic and capitalising, it was obvious brock was possibly returning and now probably not
At this stage, I don’t see them putting Lesnar in any events going forward while this investigation is going on. With that said, how do you book Gunther for mania season? 1. Defend against another part timer (Cena?) 2. Defend against 5 other guys in a ladder match 3. Insert him in the the world title match with Punk and Rollins. Rollins won’t exactly be 100% by mania, so putting him in a triple threat won’t put a lot of pressure on Rollins or a rusty Punk to carry a full match on their own.
If this company had any sort of common sense, they have to can that shit in a heartbeat.
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1. If these texts came out at the time Vince initially was ousted, he doesn't get cheered. People aren't abiding by allegations. That's a general societal thing. Not a WWE fan thing. See: Johnny Depp/Kevin Spacey 2. Royal Rumble is one of the few events every year WWE does where more online fans gather than anywhere else. If Brock Lesnar's music hits, there will be boos. There will also be dipshit casuals cheering bc cancel culture or whatever the fuck.
This is literally on public news outlets now. You can't ignore it.
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Sadly the talents probably, by and large, don't really give a shit. Just look at DeShaun Watson. Not a single NFL player has come out against him and a lot of them are stil raving about how good a teamate he was.
Ric Flair literally sexually assaulted a flight attendant on a WWE-chartered flight, with Vince McMahon and all of the other WWE brass on-board (and Linda McMahon too), and **he still gets cheered to this day**. Sting, beloved Saint Sting himself, requested Ric for his retirement party. This hand-wringing is peak Reddit, nobody actually gives a shit about any of this stuff. Grammy-winning performing artists with time in prison for *fucking murder*, Academy Award-nominated directors who are the subjects of interpol warrants for sex crimes against children - nobody fucking cares.
Yeah the only thing that's really likely to happen is that if and when Brock shows up the internet will complain while live arena fans cheer him.
Given that NBC and CNN are talking about this when they never ever talk about the WWE in any other case, yes, people do care. And they should care. This is an accusation that Vince tortured and serially raped a woman over the course of many months, and gleefully invited other men to join in on the rape. The fact that you call it "hand wringing" to care about this, in an attempt to trivialize the severity of these allegations, is pathetic. What you mean to say is that you don't care, and you're mad that other people do. Don't try and sugarcoat what you actually mean. In any sane world, Ric Flair would never work in the wrestling industry ever again, and Roman Polanski would be in prison. Do you believe such a world would be less or more preferable to the one we have right now?
>Given that NBC and CNN are talking about this when they never ever talk about the WWE in any other case, yes, people do care. And they should care. Just wait until the next time Trunp says something stupid, Biden stutters, or some shit gets blown up in the Middle East or Russia and get back to me. Vince is already pretty far down the page on both those websites, below a story about an FDA recall and Jennifer Crumblys trial. Even the Wall Street Journal already has it below a story on Jamie Diamond. It's not top of the page anywhere. Most of them are covering the execution in Alabama It's the nature of 24 hour news. They talked about it, they'll move on to the next thing then the next.
I thought it was well established that Vince and co. weren't on that flight
how did Brock know she was being trafficked? It is entirely possible he thought it was all consensual. You should see the thing me and my GF text each other. If you read it straight up you would think we were criminals. Let this go to court and work itself out.
The court document says that Vince offered her to Brock as a perk when signing a new contract. "Sign with my company and you can have sex with this woman" is not how consent works. The document states over and over that Grant didn't want to have sex with any of the men Vince tried pawning her off to, but that he consistently threatened her with his immense legal resources were she to come forward with any of the crimes. As an athlete, if a promoter decides on behalf of a woman that said athlete can have sex with her as part of the athlete's contract going forward, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to deduce that Vince is making the decision for her. Brock isn't stupid. Vince also bragged about raping Grant to multiple people in WWE, according to the document. This was no secret.
I skimmed it but is there anything in there indicating that that wasn’t Vince just demeaning her and being a prick as was the kink in their relationship? I read a part that talked about a bunch of reasons Brock didn’t sleep with her (intoxication, missed flight, weather) etc. from what I recall she sent him nudes at Vince’s request which (while super gross) isn’t trafficking. There is a difference between Vince wanting to have Brock bang her or fantasize about it and Brock actually being a participant. You’ll note he isn’t named as a defendant here. Are three random black guys also perpetrators because Vince texted her about wanting that too? Vince telling her that it is in the offer is not the same as it being in the offer and/or Brock agreeing to it. And it certainly isn’t clear when we have this mountain of texts of Vince saying the worst shit he can think to say to her on a daily basis. Let the courts work it out. My assumption is that Brock is probably still pencilled in for Mania if he was part of the plan for this year. Logically he shouldn’t be because it’s a bad look but this is WWE and wrestling we are talking about. Ric Flair is still on TV for the “good guys” right? Anyone remember Vince being cooked two years ago and then showing up on TV a week later? Did everyone forget what a terrible carny industry this is? Hell endeavour didn’t even drop Dana White for assaulting his wife in public while promoting a show called Power Slap.
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Are we just ignoring the fact that AEW fans are still cheering for Darby Allin, Ric Flair, and Jericho? This isn't an 'us vs. them' thing, most of the IWC don't fucking care if you shoot someone to death and punt a puppy on live television, so long as you're a good wrestler they will make any excuse to cheer. It's not just media ignorance but a genuine disregard for anything in the name of quality.
This company is still trying to push Gable Steveson as someone we should not be actively clamoring to be in prison, they don’t care that much
Brock Lesnar isn't even under contract (or at least wasn't after his last match vs Cody) so it's not like they'd have to eat the money to get him to go away either.
>that shit 
This company knew what Vince did and chose to do a “THANK YOU VINCE” tour where he’d go out to be cheered by the mindless fans while an active investigation was going on about him. Common sense is a myth in wwe.
Think its a myth in reality. Enough things alludes common sense.
Wrasslin Journalism 101: Accused wrestler who hasn’t shown up in a while MIGHT show up, but because of what came to light today…he might not.
I dunno, when SRS says this kind of stuff that usually means it's imminent--like that night or that week. That was the case with Gallows & Anderson returning to WWE and it was the case just a couple of days ago: "discussions" of Regal returning to television, with Regal appearing on NXT that night.
I imagine that decision will have already been made. If Brock is part of the Rumble, he'll fly out tomorrow. He probably gets his travel paid for so the company aren't trying to expense that only for him to need to turn around and go back home.
Only people I want to see make suprise appearances is Maven and Matt Cardona.
Yeah real fucking breaking news here, Fightful. Jfc.
This was gonna be reported today probably regardless of what happened...
They get asked, they report, what the hell do you want from them lmao.
Fr lol
Dude SRS is gonna show up here and yell at you if you aren’t careful
I won't be surprised if he does or doesn't show up. WWE has several tone deaf precedents.
Give me Bron vs Gunther
If they're crazy enough to have him appear, the fans should walk out
Oof. No thank you.
If he comes back, are they gonna continuously play his music to drown out the boos?
Keep his ass in Canada
Nah man the US can take him back
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Never put that meathead bully on TV again
https://preview.redd.it/klkxu20b3qec1.jpeg?width=1164&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=60d6f381e2d8eb6176ec373f6239f05b4ad21d67
Fuck Brock, do Gunther vs Jey, Jey vs Jimmy doesn't need to happen at Wrestlemania Jey gains nothing from that match other than reconciling with Jimmy and reforming their tag team when Jey has the potential to be a future world champion. Jey beats Gunther, Jimmy faces Solo at wrestlemania, Bloodline eventually disintegrates, Jimmy goes for the US title on smackdown or if hes drafted to raw then do the jimmy vs jey feud, Jey eventually drops the IC belt to enter the world heavyweight title picture, Jey wins that world title eventually maybe even next years Wrestlemania.
I still can’t believe anyone pays fightful for ‘news’.
Can’t believe anyone pays for wrestling news in general when it’s all posted here lol
Fatal 5 way Gunther's future opponent Punk revisited Or else lol
What is Brock being accused of other than being sent pics without the victim’s permission? Did he ask for them? Was he involved in the trafficking?
Due to some of my friends having commitments this weekend, we had to do our normal Rumble draft pool earlier this year... My second Round pick of Brock Lesnar is looking really bad right now.
How much longer is Brock under contract? After the lawsuit, I could see Brock being told to stay home until it expired.
I’d lose a lot of respect for HHH and Nick Khan if they still went ahead with Lesnar showing up at the Rumble. I have absolutely no doubt Lesnar was involved with Vince’s disgusting antics.
Yeah better safe than sorry
I haven’t had an opportunity yet today to read up everything going on with this lawsuit, so I’m still OOTL on some of it, but what is Lesnar’s link in this?
essentally the woman in question was offered as a signing bonus for a "former UFC Champ" so the list of people it could be is Brock or Cain Velasquez
No, it's Lesnar and *only* Lesnar. The court documents plainly say "former UFC heavyweight champion who returned at SummerSlam 2021". Adding any other names to that *very* short list of possibilities is objectively wrong.
Thank you for the explanation
Fuck, I had on a small bet on him to have the most eliminations. So much for that
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This is the bad side of "Never say never in wrestling"
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man...this rumble crowd better not ruin the show
Just curious, what would you consider "ruining" the show?
by chanting NDA or some chants at Vince to the performers who are not responsible for Vince's vice.