Truths & Lies: NXT/WWE Divas Division, Brock Lesnar Winning, MORE

WWE Battleground is this Sunday night.

On paper, I like the card. The main event is obviously intriguing. Any time Brock Lesnar is on pay-per-view, the event is must-see. Being on a “B-Show” makes it all the more interesting. John Cena defending his United States Championship is the perfect match to compliment the main event. The other bouts are nothing amazing on the surface, but I guess Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt could be the sleeper hit of the night.

My real concern is the probably like everybody reading this – what is planned for WWE Summerslam? With Lesnar being back a month earlier than expected, it make you wonder who will be WWE World Champion come late August. Can Seth Rollins hold onto the belt? Will Brock Lesnar just simply dominate and leave with the gold? Does Reigns step up and finally get his moment…or hey, Sheamus is always holding that darn Money in the Bank briefcase.

You never know.

Reader Feedback

Note: I can only reply to comments with no cuss/insulting words. Thanks!

Bubbles: Maybe it was another lackluster week in wrestling (minus Owens/Balor which was good), but this was once again a soft article. You need to find some substance and find it quickly. Your return is quickly turning into a written version of Y2J’s last return, and that’s not a good thing.

Ouch. That hurts. Another wrestling website contacted me last week about joining their writing staff, so somebody must have liked it! Like I did a few weeks ago, I suggest reading my Jay’s Ways columns, but I guess that is too difficult. Lucky for you, I have a kinda-sorta-but-not-really-big announcement at the end of this column. Keep reading.

Reality4U: >>Look, the TNA die hards are going to defend their company to the death, so reasoning with them is a lost cause in 2015. To everybody else with an open mind, all I ever asked was to simply ask yourself the obvious questions.

Do you consider R-Truth to be a former World Champion? I certainly don’t.

How about Ken Shamrock? Nope.

Eric Young? Chris Sabin? PLEASE! Stop it.<<

MY ONLY problem with this is its as the far right and the far left do in politics…they cherry pick their points. You don’t mention Sting, Kurt Angle, Jeff Hardy….. and honestly I think its ridiculous to ignore the TNA title, as TNA is the “other” wrestling company in a world of (basically, if you’re honest with yourself) two wrestling companies (although I hope ROH picks up steam, but that isn’t probably going to happen).

Yeah, I cherry picked the examples, but it goes for anybody – big name or not. Jeff Hardy is a former World Champion. In WWE. Same with Kurt Angle. In WWE. Sting is because of WCW. Angle could win the TNA ‘World’ Title another 20 times in the next year. Would anybody with a straight face claim he beat Ric Flair’s all-time record?

…

…my point exactly.

AG Awesome: Sometimes I just have to take a Justin and wipe my Watry after reading this stuff…

That line was funny the first time I heard it…in 2008. Come on, at least be clever or witty. Uncle Phil, take it away…

Luisho: 1) I can’t believe I’m agreeing with Watry, but I too avoided spoilers for the special event and was left scratching my head upon Jericho winning. I’m assuming it’s a case of giving him a win so a victory over him is still worth SOMETHING down the road.

2) many of your truths and lies… Who are you arguing them with? No, seriously? I have never heard of anyone claim or truly believe the network is free every month but the way you’re going on about it implies it’s something you encounter constantly.

Fair comment.

1. It was time to cash in on one of those clean Chris Jericho losses. He has nothing to do with the current television product (minus Tough Enough), is not wrestling full-time, and plans to be finishing up his latest “return” soon. Normally, I am the last guy to care about pointless win-loss records, especially on a July 4th WWE Network special, but that just felt wrong. Right when the bout finished, you could feel it – Neville should have won.

2. You should read my tweets/emails someday. Then we can talk about what is and isn’t sent my way from wrestling fans on a daily basis. Unfortunately, the messages are also filled with cuss words and insults in between, so I can’t post them.

World’s Schlongest Man: Were those 100,000 full price buyers in the US? Why would anyone pay at least $50 for one ppv when that same amount would get 5 months of ppv’s? I hope they were from non-network countries.

It was worldwide pay-per-view buys for Survivor Series 2014. A well deserved number might I add. I could not find the final data, but I read 34,000 buys were from the United States, with the rest coming internationally. Feel free to correct me though; I may be wrong. Still, yeah, there are plenty of fans still not subscribed to the WWE Network. We have seen PPV numbers from the first half of 2015. All the while, WWE Network has offered full months for FREE to new subscribers! Payback just grabbed 54,000 pay-per-view buys, while Extreme Rules had 56,000 buys. Slowly but surely, people are jumping on the WWE Network bandwagon, but there are absolutely folks who just prefer the traditional method no matter what.

Week In Review

TRUTH: PWI is right in no longer recognizing the TNA Title as a “World” Title. – Yes, and it is long overdue. Been writing about it for years now.

TRUTH: TNA Impact Wrestling is right in trying to find the source of their news leaks behind the scenes. – Yes, but it is highly unlikely to happen. Whether it is my column, Wrestling Observer newsletters, ESPN reporters, or TMZ, you are not going to find out who the mysterious “unnamed sources” are. Just a harsh reality.

LIE: WWE Network is not offering July free for new subscribers. – Yes, and it should be noted that Michael Cole (again) compared the WWE Network to Netflix on Raw last week. The company has done this in the past, but it is worth mentioning because of their new strategy offering new subscribers their first month free. Last WWE Network number was 1.3 million a few months ago. My hunch is if they reached 1.5 million by now, it would have already been announced in a big press release. Thus, I am guessing WWE has not moved off that 1.3 million number very much since – higher or lower…

LIE: I watched the WWE Network special “Beast In The East” LIVE! – Yes, and PWInsider noted that WWE was very happy with the viewership figures. However, that goes to the previous topic. Was it enough to justify all the added costs? What was originally planned to be a normal live event turned into a WWE Network special at 5:30 am. I can not even imagine the added expenses, with or without Brock being there. The event was well done, but don’t lose sight that this is a business where the end goal is to make money.

Big Brother Update

My three favorites survived another week. John is becoming the star I knew he would be. Audrey is seemingly always going to be in hot water, but she is still there. Plus, Vanessa continues to be the best and most under rated player in the house. No issues with the first two evictions – more than pleased to see them leave early. Not a fan of either, so good riddance. Since I am sure everyone is wondering about former NXT star Austin, he is in a weird position. Powerful voice to others but not 100% “in” with the main alliance. Weird. If he exits the game shortly, it would not be a major surprise at all.

TRUTH: The WWE Divas division needs a shakeup.

We are long overdue. I have been calling for Charlotte to debut permanently on RAW/Smackdown ever since WrestleMania 31. When she lost the NXT Womens Championship, it was time. That was months ago. Now with Sasha Banks improving each and every week, she also makes a great candidate to get the call up. What makes it interesting is the current feud on the main roster surrounds Paige needing help to take on The Bella Twins (and Alicia Fox?).

Seems like a perfect fit to me.

This goes along with something Mick Foley recently said. If the NXT women come to the main roster one by one, it may fall flat or cause them to get lost in the shuffle. If there is a big influx of NXT women all at once, it sends a clear message that things are changing around here. I am more than ready for it. As someone who is fine with Nikki Bella holding the Divas Title for a little while longer (break the all-time record length), WWE has to know the iron is hot enough to strike now!

Next step – getting rid of the Divas term. Keep that stuff on the E! Network…

LIE: Brock Lesnar is a lock to leave Sunday as the new WWE World Champion.

Once Mania ended, Seth Rollins vs. Brock Lesnar for the title was the obvious main event for Summerslam 2015. Regardless of who won (my pick was going to be Lesnar), that setup wrote itself. Now that it has been announced for WWE Battleground, I am not too sure about the outcome.

Another “Fall of Brock” on a part-time schedule carrying the top prize? Or the opposite – which means your beast of a draw starts taking losses right after signing a new deal? Tough spot to be in.

Does WWE go for the funky DQ/countout finish leading into a gimmick/blowoff rematch at Summerslam, with Brock Lesnar finally getting his revenge on Seth Rollins?

Will somebody cost Lesnar the match this weekend, leading to their feud, while Rollins continues to weasel his way around with the gold?

Are rumors true about Brock Lesnar (new champ) vs. Roman Reigns for the title at Summerslam, while Triple H takes on Seth Rollins as the semi-main event?

Everything appeared set in stone coming out of WrestleMania 31. Reigns works his way up the card for a future title shot. Rollins keeps the title as a wormy heel each month…until Brock Lesnar comes back ready for his rematch. All coming to a head at Summerslam…

…except that is one month away.

Stay tuned!

LIE: I watched Total Divas AND Tough Enough on Tuesday.

As predicted by yours truly (before a single episode even aired), Tough Enough 2015 is a bust. I knew it was coming, and after just one show, I threw in the towel. No more Tough Enough for me…and considering I loved all the past seasons, that is saying a lot. Beyond disappointing.

Luckily, Total Divas gives me an alternative on Tuesday nights.

As usual, the reality show has drummed up quite a few story lines to follow. The Bellas threatening to leave the company was clearly out of date and newsflash folks – the twins already left WWE years ago to pursue other interests! Pretty ironic, huh? Paige and her supposed backstage “troubles” make me laugh. The Daniel Bryan and Tyson Kidd stuff could be interesting, with both being injured. None of that comes close to the Eva Marie redemption story though.

Her training with Brian Kendrick was highlighted, while co-works said she sucked at wrestling. Brie Bella’s words, not mine. It made for a very compelling closing segment and while nothing has been seen yet on WWE/NXT, I hope Eva Marie takes all the advantages handed to her and doesn’t waste them. America loves to give others a second chance, and this has all the makings of a cool comeback story. Watch it start on Total Divas and culminate on WWE television.

#AllRedEverything

TRUTH: This is my final Truths & Lies column for awhile.

Calm down, I’m not going anywhere. Put the streamers and party hats away.

I am simply changing things up and need YOUR vote! Maybe I should write a new Who Was Better? column. Or maybe a Which Was Better? column. Or hey, perhaps I should find another I Was Wrong topic to cover. There is always the option of me diving into all the NEWZZZZZ headlines from the past week and devouring them like I did last year? Anyways, feel free to give some feedback about what concept you would like to see next week.

…aaand GO!

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