Viral Meningitis Invades WWE

[Symphony Steve]

Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt are off Sunday's PPV due to what WWE is calling 'viral infections', but others are calling viral meningitis. Kurt Angle (!) will replace Reigns in what was supposed to be the big Shield Reunion angle. Wyatt will be replaced by AJ Styles in his scheduled match vs. Finn Balor. Two other performers, Bo Dallas and JoJo (Jack Me) Offerman (straight steal from Bill James) have essentially been quarantined.

And, according to WWE, at least one other performer has a viral infection. Don't know who, but Kevin Owens is gonna miss the rest of a South American tour with 'personal issues'.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Wow.

And WOW to angle

 

[OrangeDW]

Reigns for Angle and Wyatt for Styles...major upgrades in both cases.

Seems like kindve a waste to throw Angle in like that though, his return match should be a big deal.

 

[Symphony Steve]

Reigns for Angle and Wyatt for Styles...major upgrades in both cases.

Seems like kindve a waste to throw Angle in like that though, his return match should be a big deal.

Yep. According to Wrestling Observer, the Bible of pro rasslin', they had planned a major storyline for Angle to build his return, but felt that, since this was basically a one-match PPV to begin with, they had to do something special for it.

AJ is a huge upgrade and, reportedly, WWE is giving the AJ-Balor much more time than had been planned for Wyatt-Balor. And probably less to the six-man. I mean, they have to be real careful with Angle. If he gets hurt on WWE's watch, it won't be pretty.

 

[W'boro'Cuse315]

Shouldn't this be on the Entertainment forum? It's not a sport.

 

[MSOrange]

Shouldn't this be on the Entertainment forum? It's not a sport.

 

[MSOrange]

Yep. According to Wrestling Observer, the Bible of pro rasslin', they had planned a major storyline for Angle to build his return, but felt that, since this was basically a one-match PPV to begin with, they had to do something special for it.

AJ is a huge upgrade and, reportedly, WWE is giving the AJ-Balor much more time than had been planned for Wyatt-Balor. And probably less to the six-man. I mean, they have to be real careful with Angle. If he gets hurt on WWE's watch, it won't be pretty.

I was surprised they did the Angle return also but they had to do something big to replace the Shield. AJ always gives the fans their money's worth too.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Yep. According to Wrestling Observer, the Bible of pro rasslin', they had planned a major storyline for Angle to build his return, but felt that, since this was basically a one-match PPV to begin with, they had to do something special for it.

AJ is a huge upgrade and, reportedly, WWE is giving the AJ-Balor much more time than had been planned for Wyatt-Balor. And probably less to the six-man. I mean, they have to be real careful with Angle. If he gets hurt on WWE's watch, it won't be pretty.

I didn't even know angle was cleared

 

[OrangeDW]

Yep. According to Wrestling Observer, the Bible of pro rasslin', they had planned a major storyline for Angle to build his return, but felt that, since this was basically a one-match PPV to begin with, they had to do something special for it.

AJ is a huge upgrade and, reportedly, WWE is giving the AJ-Balor much more time than had been planned for Wyatt-Balor. And probably less to the six-man. I mean, they have to be real careful with Angle. If he gets hurt on WWE's watch, it won't be pretty.

See, I disagree with them. Nobody cares about this PPV anyway. In fact, I cancelled my subscription a month ago and won’t even consider re- upping until Rumble or Mania. I don’t like the current product and only watch the big PPVs anyway - sometimes. Put it at Rumble or Mania. I’d say Sunmerslam or MITB, but thats too far away. The other PPVs are all just there, including Survivor Series sadly(it used to be unique to see certain guys team up and face each other and interact, but now it happens on every weekly show, so who cares?)

 

[OrangeDW]

Shouldn't this be on the Entertainment forum? It's not a sport.

Sports entertainment! Wrestling is unique. I’ll never knock what those guys do from a physical performance standpoint. They’re legit athletes and beat the hell out of their bodies with no offseason. Part of the reason so many died in their 30s and 40s.

 

[Symphony Steve]

Their backs and necks are generally in real bad shape. Not to mention, concussions are a real thing, even in wrestling. And, while this new era of classic matches, particularly in New Japan and the top indies, is a true golden era, there will inevitably be problems down the road due to the high-risk move set.

The toxic mix of painkillers, steroids, and alcohol is why we had so many wrestling deaths in the past two decades, several wrestlers dying with enlarged hearts. While 'roid use is down but by no means gone, many wrestlers are gonna have significant chronic pain even after they retire. So, yes, from that standpoint, it's a sport.

 

[W'boro'Cuse315]

I never got into pro wrestling but a bunch of my friends are so I've had the "are they athletes/is it a sport" debate many times. I'll preface this by saying that I have the utmost respect for what they do putting their bodies on the line to provide people entertainment & joy.

My stance: An athlete is someone who competes in an athletic event. An athletic event, or "sport" doesn't have a pre-determined outcome. Therefore, pro wrestlers aren't athletes & it isn't a sport.

Someone can be athletic without being an athlete. Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jason Statham are all incredibly athletic...are any of them considered athletes? Pro wrestlers are entertainers. I think they have a unique niche wear I don't call them actors, but I don't consider them athletes.

Btw, sorry for the thread hijack, I've just always enjoyed this debate. I wasn't allowed to watch pro wrestling growing up & though I can totally understand its popularity with such engaging figures like Stone Cold, The Rock, Cena, I was always a bit uncomfortable, as a kid, with the way they'd treat/portray women. Not so much the objectifying, as I was used to that with hip hop music, but more the degrading & when the males would put their hands on them. From what I've seen/heard it's gotten A LOT better & the women are now legit wrestlers & not just "divas" but this was just the opinion I formed based on what little I was exposed to in the '90s-early 2000s.

 

[W'boro'Cuse315]

Their backs and necks are generally in real bad shape. Not to mention, concussions are a real thing, even in wrestling. And, while this new era of classic matches, particularly in New Japan and the top indies, is a true golden era, there will inevitably be problems down the road due to the high-risk move set.

The toxic mix of painkillers, steroids, and alcohol is why we had so many wrestling deaths in the past two decades, several wrestlers dying with enlarged hearts. While 'roid use is down but by no means gone, many wrestlers are gonna have significant chronic pain even after they retire. So, yes, from that standpoint, it's a sport.

I understand & again, have the utmost respect for what they do & go through, but I'm not sure how any of this makes it a sport. I once watched a doc on Cirq Du Soleil performers & the crazy injuries & toll it takes in their bodies. The majority have very short career spans & many go on to live with various chronic physical ailments. I'd suspect that many would use painkillers with some becoming addicted. Same goes for many ballet dancers & backup dancers who do crazy stunts during these elaborate live performances like the Super Bowl halftime show (random example). These people, like wrestlers, are incredibly athletic & put their bodies on the line for our entertainment but aren't athletes & don't participate in a sport.

 

[W'boro'Cuse315]

One more random wrestling note. I recall being in middle school when Stone Cold/The Rock divided the entire school like other pop culture rivalries such as Britney Spears/Christina Aguilera or BSB/N'Sync. You HAD to pick a side, there was no neutral. I chose The Rock solely because he played CFB. My other memory that sticks out from that time was when NWO (I think?) came out & the school actually wrote a note home to everyone's parents stating that the X "Su*ck It" gesture & saying would be a punishable offense. Kids were just doing it everywhere, classes, lunch, to teachers & faculty, it was totally out of hand lol I witnessed our 70 yr old woman hall monitor (sweetest lady ever, like everyone's 2nd grandmother) ask a kid if he had a pass & this 7th grader straight up hit her with it & walked away...she was speechless & froze...her face was priceless. Crazy times.

 

[Symphony Steve]

It's a fun debate. The original issue was whether this thread belonged here or under entertainment.

The only reason I put it here is b/c there was already a wrestling 'Mount Rushmore' thread on this particular board. FWIW, my Mount Rushmore is Bruno, Flair, Tanahashi, and Okada.

 

[Knicks411]

The main event last night sure was something

 

[MSOrange]

Anybody going to watch the 25th Anniversary of Raw tonight? I'm not a regular watcher anymore but Vince usually does these shows really well.

 

[OrangeDW]

Anybody going to watch the 25th Anniversary of Raw tonight? I'm not a regular watcher anymore but Vince usually does these shows really well.

Well, I just got home and am going to kill an hour or so before going to bed and nothing else is on so...sure.

Crowd really hates that Jason Jordan kid, huh? Wow.

For awhile I had the WWE Network for all the old stuff, but would still watch some of the new PPV’s so I kinda new what was going on. I cancelled my subscription awhile ago as I had watched pretty much everything I wanted to and wasn’t using it much and don’t care about the current product much.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I don't see how anybody can argue against this.

 

[Chip]

Anybody going to watch the 25th Anniversary of Raw tonight? I'm not a regular watcher anymore but Vince usually does these shows really well.

I watched the first hour or so. My highlight was the segment that included The Brooklyn Brawler and Brother Love. In their original outfits.

Taking my son to Smackdown in DC tonight for a Christmas present. My role is that of an occasional drinker and frequent people watcher.

 

[MSOrange]

I watched the first hour or so. My highlight was the segment that included The Brooklyn Brawler and Brother Love. In their original outfits.

Taking my son to Smackdown in DC tonight for a Christmas present. My role is that of an occasional drinker and frequent people watcher.

People watching at a WWE event would make for an interesting time I bet.

 

[Knicks411]

I watch most weeks, so shouldn't be a surprise I watched. Opening segment was fun, the rest, meh.

People watching at a WWE event would make for an interesting time I bet.

I've been to my fair share of WWE shows, this is very true. See a lot of interesting people there

 

[HOFCeluck]

I got into WWF/E in the late nineties at the start of the "Attitude Era." and then stopped watching sometime around 2005. I picked it up again for a couple months back in 2014.

It just isn't the same...

 

[MSOrange]

I watch most weeks, so shouldn't be a surprise I watched. Opening segment was fun, the rest, meh.



I've been to my fair share of WWE shows, this is very true. See a lot of interesting people there

Yeah Stone Cold and Vince always put on a good segment. I think they were going for that look, but Vince's face truly looked his age in that segment. Other than that, I pretty much agree. I watched the first 2 hours. Too bad the Rock is busy making movies and couldn't make an appearance. He is always must see tv. I still youtube some of his old segments when I need a good laugh.

 

[Knicks411]

Yeah Stone Cold and Vince always put on a good segment. I think they were going for that look, but Vince's face truly looked his age in that segment. Other than that, I pretty much agree. I watched the first 2 hours. Too bad the Rock is busy making movies and couldn't make an appearance. He is always must see tv. I still youtube some of his old segments when I need a good laugh.

Yeah Vince looked really old. (then again, he is really old, so...)

Rock really is amazing, I've been watching a lot of 1999 stuff now, and his promos are just killing it.