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Anyone have interest in Carlos Gonzalez? It's extremely unlikely that the W'Sox or Gonzalez have any interest in each other. I'm just asking politely here. I like Gonzalez as a bounce-back candidate and on a one year small deal could be useful at the trade deadline and putting seats into stands (I know I'd be interested in following him). Although he'd take PA's from youngsters.

QUOTE (Brian @ Jan 29, 2018 -> 06:58 AM) King of Hyperbole strikes again. I’m the social climate, it made perfect sense and made even more sense after the fact with Rousey showing up. Media coverage everywhere. Thought Asuka w/ Bella’s at f3 was kinda dumb. Hate those twins. Torrie and Trish. Good Gawd. Still money. Two fun Rumbles where we were finally given winners we want. I’ll even admit that i think it’s time for Brock to go. Still a fan but WWE missed out on riding a Braun run while he was super hot, just to get to this Roman s***fest at Mania. I am a fan of Brock Lesnar as well, I just hate how WWE uses him. He is taking the top spot on Raw and it's going to climax to a fan-hated Lesnar vs. Reigns at WM main event. He could be used in great ways in great feuds that aren't belt-dependent and I'd be all over it. Braun vs. Brock in a good feud lasting 3-5 PPV's is fine with me without the belt on the line (or even with the belt on the line, but without the looming Brock vs. Reigns WM appearance ruining any unpredictability). Always can do Brock vs. Balor/other smaller wrestler in a david vs. goliath. Brock vs. Joe was an amazing build, but once again ruined by predictability.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jan 29, 2018 -> 07:18 AM) The women's rumble was pretty awful but with the low expectations I think it came off better than expected. The Rousey signing should be great. Why did you think it was awful? I thought it was extremely well done with a great mix of nostalgia and current wrestlers.

By the way, Kairi Sane may be the person I look forward to watching most in WWE right now. My top: Kairi Sane Adam Cole Velveteen Dream Aleister Black Asuka Nakamaru AJ Styles Sami Zayn / KO Braun Strowman Bayley Finn Balor + the Club Maybe 1 or 3 others that I am forgetting. Rollins is on the rise for me, will see how he's handled. But MAN Kairi Sane's elbow drops at the Rumble... thing of beauty! She is absolutely marvellous.

I'm with you fathom. No one wants to see him anymore because they aren't invested in his story. People cheer like crazy with Braun... because their invested in his story and future. No one wants to see a part time champ who is destined to go on to WM to feed Reigns. The woman's rumble match exceeded my expectations. It was a great rumble match and the winner was predictable, but fine. Asuka is the most over woman and most believable winner and a Asuka vs. Bliss match at mania will be excellent. However, it is a missed opportunity to slingshot one of the woman to relevance (Banks / Bayley / Becky) who deserve it the most. They've abused this three woman with s*** story lines and booking so long that they are practically useless right now. Overall, 2 great Royal Rumble matches, 2 decent but meh tag matches, and 2 obvious but fun title matches.

Men's RR was legitimately good with a great and deserving winner. First time in many years this has happened. Good RR with good storylines and good surprises. Great ending with the final 4. V. Happy to see Reigns/Cena not win it. See? It's not that hard to please me. I've been very happy with the results of almost everything so far on the RR... minus the pre-show matches which don't really matter. I could wriet some minor things like wtf was the point of Ziggler coming back to be eliminated.

Bad decision: Having Roode in an 'open-challenge match' against Mojo Rowley. Why? Open challenge matches are happening far too often in the WWE these days with the mid-card titles. Why? Because WWE can't book worth s***. An Open challenge match is basically "we have no direction, so let's throw a match together." Having Mojo vs. Roode was a decent kick off match, but was a let down immediately Mojo came out. The good: WWE announced that the winner of the 30-man rumble can fight for either title of one's choosing. Why is this good? Because we already knew Reigns vs. Lesnar is Raw's side, but now a raw superstar can still win the Rumble and go on to fight for the SD title. This opens up the possibility of Balor / Strowman / etc. winning the rumble making it that much more unpredictable. The rumor: AJ styles is losing his championship then going on to win the rumble. I don't believe this rumor, just a rumor going around.

Anyone excited about the Royal Rumble this year? I know my expectations are very low after what they did to us last year... Having Reigns in the Royal Rumble at spot 30 after his championship match in the night... little to no surprises. This year we really have two realistic picks for winner in Reigns and Nakamaru. Everyone else has so little chance. Maybe Ziggler as a surprise. Low expectations, but I'll be watching. same thing for Woman's btw... it's basically Ronda person or Asuka.

As a fan of both yellich and Cain, I think the brewers did really well here. They are both stud ball players. Now they have a surplus, and that is always good. They can sign or trade for a SP. Nice job Brew-crew.

It's f***ing hilarious. If GM's/teams were just smart enough to see the incredibly destructive deals before, we would already be further a head in solving this mess. You don't give these guys huge paychecks when you know statistically that these contracts are going to be incredibly destructive and hurtful to your franchise in year 3/4/5. Players/Boras need more realistic expectations. At the same time, there is a very real problem with the haves/have nots in baseball, and that is really sad as it seems to be getting worse and worse. I like baseball because any team can win and it's such a gruelling season with so much importance on the team as compared to say NBA where it's 1 player beats all (LeBron / Steph).

Great show for Raw 25, only one negative comment: Too many commercials. Other than that, the booking was very very nice for a change. I wonder why they had Miz go over Reigns (theri face of the company) on this big of an event. I was shocked, what a hell of a match that was. Also, Cena got wrecked by Elias. Jeez. Lesnar got wrecked by Strowman. Cena is just a punching bag these days for the new guys. I dig his effort to give back, but he's got to take on some W's too. haha. Also, I hear people at the manhattan center were extremely upset since they did not get much of a show...

wow great article, I might actually watch Warriors vs. Rockets tonight because of it (haven't watched a single game this year)

Moncada seems like a really good guy. Am I wrong here? I remember watching his kids when Moncada got his first Wsox homer and everyhing I hear about him seems like a good guy. If so, even better to root for him.

So they bumped the US Title match OFF the Royal Rumble card. I understand why this decision was made (time) but this sucks big time. It's a typical WWE move that kills the credibility of the belt and competitors. It was the #1 thing I looked forward to on the rumble (Roode getting the title) and the credibility of the mid-card on a PPV. It also would have been one of the more technical savvy matches on the card (maybe the only one?). Ah well.

QUOTE (ChrisLikesBaseball @ Jan 15, 2018 -> 08:52 PM) I'd be happy with this card, but I'm too big a fan of Balor to accept him in the IC title picture, especially now that The Club has formed. This is his chance to get into the Main Event picture. He'll need a Mania match, but I think it's a feud ending match, not a title shot. I'd like to see him take the Universal Title at/around Summerslam. I love Nakamura winning the rumble, and it could happen even though he's not in the forefront right now. Raw has Elimination Chamber in February to set up as a #1 contender match. Braun would be a great winner for that. Next week's Raw and the Royal Rumble are going to be very telling towards what we'll get at Mania.. Can't wait to see it unfold! I love Wrestlemania season. Love WM season too, it's just hard to get my expectations up too much as they continually fail. I think WM is consistently my biggest disappointment of wrestling for the past few years. Everyone knows their going with Brock vs. Reigns, I just can't imagine them letting Reigns win the RR again. I think it's going to be Naka (he's also the betting favorite right now). Another guy is Ziggler. But beyond those three, they really have no one else. We know it's Reigns vs. Lesnar. We know it's AJ vs ____.

Sorry -- I've been out of it for a bit on the Giants since they did absolutely horrible last year... ... Why does this make sense for the Giants? Trading for an impending free agent ageing CF when they came off a terrible season? Don't they need to rebuild or is their legitimate chance that they can contend?

Good trade for both teams. Like it a lot for the stro's.

So, I was sitting in bed wide awake and started day dreaming of a *realistic* Wrestlemania card that I think would be pretty f*cking awesome. Here it is. Note that while this is fantasy, this is built on the current status (pre-Royal Rumble) that WWE has going for them. This is as realistic, but as awesome, as I can imagine it right now. I.e. No AJ Styles vs. Strowman because that makes no sense. 3 Main events: 1. Raw Title: Brock Lesnar vs. Braun Strownman (details: Strowman becomes absolutely dominating after being screwed at the RR (lesnar pins kane)... meanwhile, Lesnar decides to finally go full heel as he realizes Strowman cannot be taken on face to face. In the build up, Strowman finds a way to become #1 contender and Lesnar begins to attack strowman from behind (something Lesnar never does). Ultimately, Strowman wins the title as face monster at WM) 2. SD Title: AJ vs. Nakamura (details: Naka wins the RR and goes on to have a long awaited feud with Styles. Fans want this, it's a great wrestling match, great for both competitors, easy booking). 3. Roman Reigns vs. John Cena (details: Both man *have* to be in big feuds, why not this? Don't waste Cena on an aged 'Taker.. do this match and let the internet fans go crazy. This is killing 2 birds with one stone as both these Faces of the company are fan-hated, but together they might be big enough to be a huge draw and a great build as this will represent who the real face of the company is, kind of.) Rest of the matches/titles: 4. Raw Tag titles Jason Jordan + Seth Rollins vs. Revival with Revival going over and this igniting problems between JJ and Seth. 5. SD Tag Titles: TLC Match between Usos vs. Kevin Owens + Zayn vs. Third team (Likely New Day, or Shelton/Gable or FF). Could also be a 4-way TLC but I prefer 3-way. KO + Zayn win this match and go on to wreck havock in tag division being a great team (have nothing else for them so this seems to fit) 6. US TITLE Match and WM Opening match: Bobby Roode (goes full on heel after winning the US Title tournament) vs. Randy Orton with Orton putting over Roode here in the opening boute. I normally likely to keep the mid card seperated from the main eventers, but we need to get Orton on the show and this would put him to great usage. Orton is generally considered boring, but I'd enjoy this match very well. 7. IC Title Fatal 4-way: Samoa Joe (comes in as champ after defeating Roman) vs. Demon Balor vs. Wyatt vs. Woken Matt Hardy. Can do a lot here, you have 2 faces and 2 heels, perfect way to get all these guys on the show in a meaningful match and strong programs going forward. No one wants to see a 1on1 between Wyatt and Hardy, but putting them here makes some comedic sense and can do a lot of angles depending on who you want to win. 8. SD Womans Title: Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch : with Flair as heel turn and Becky as super babyface who goes on to win the big one here. Why? Becky deserves this and this would be a wrestling clinic for the womens division. Ideal match for SD. 9. Raw Womans triple threat title match: Alexa Bliss vs. Asuka vs. Nia Jax (details: Asuka's big match... have her win the Royal Rumble... have Nia Jax in this match for unpredictability and to get her on the card.) Kick off show matchs: 10. Inter-promotional Tag match: Bayley+Banks vs. 2 SD Woman (Natayla + ??? Naomi ??) Why? Get these girls on the card. 11. Cruiserweight title match Hideo Itami vs. ____ Kendrick ? 12. Andre-Giant Rumble, .... Other possibilities if the WM card has time on it: 1. HHH vs. Angle because why not ? This would sell tickets, it's already being built towards. Not many of us want to see this, but it's there.. 2. Kane vs. Undertaker III in a duel retirement match where both legends have their last harouh. 3. A miz match. Not sure vs. whom, but maybe Elias? I dont know... further work can be done here. Same with a Baron corbin match. 4. Another womans match... admitedly I don't know who would get this spot. Opinions?

Latest seems to be 'Taker vs. Cena at WM. That's a terrible route. Taker is RIP in terms of ability. God awful. Reigns vs. Lesnar should be a fun match and finally we get the title off of Lesnar, but how boring of a book-job can you do there? And f*** both Reigns and Lesnar. Taker vs. Cena as the other main event sucks too. At least we will likely get Styles vs. Nak

Good for the astros. I hated how they didn't trade for Sale/Quintana when they needed pitching, but now look at them... trading for Verlander and Cole. Congrats Astros on the moves, I no longer hate you for holding out on your team. What a star team!

I disagree here with this thread. It is quite annoying to us few sox fans, but this is ESPN and a very quick marketing piece from them. It's not meant to be entirely historical, so I have np being left out as a White Sox fan. It's not like their listing other no-name teams there. So, overall, move on....

Gotta say, I love the way Smackdown has booked the US Title this month. It's normally booked like s***, but having Dolph win it only to vacant it into a tournament is a great move for Dolph's character, it has been great so far for the US title, and I love that it will be finalized at the Royal Rumble. I hope they pick a good winner *cough* king Roode! *cough*. I like that they have built New day vs. Rusev/English also around this tournament. Shows good consistent booking there. Also liking SD's tag division and AJ vs. Owens/Zayn with Bryan being a tweaner.

I agree with everything you said. It's a perfect fit. It also can easily be billed as a bit of a dream match. So I'm going to play some fantasy booking on how I'd have wrestlemania booked. Every year WM comes as a remainder to wrestling fans that the WWE couldn't give a s*** about you and instead caters to the general public through celebrities, old timers, and so on. But here's what I would try to do if I was in charge (understand: I haven't watched WWE in about a month+ so, give me some leeway , also note, I am trying to keep with some storylines and not just go complete fantasy). 1. Main event: AJ Styles vs. Nakamura for the Title (Naka wins the Royal rumble in shocking fashion to set up this dream match that has been teased for quite some time now) This is the best thing Smackdown has going for it, it's really the only option. They don't have anywhere else they can go. 2. Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns Unfortunately, at this point you have to do this match. Wasted 2017 by building up Lesnar for this moment, well, here it is. No one else can match him due to their booking so this is unfortunate. Of course, WWE will put this as the main event. 3. Samoa Joe vs. John Cena IC Title match For all the reasons stated above. 4. Bobby Roode vs. Randy Orton US Title match I got to admit, I had no idea what I wanted to do here with Roode. I wanted to do Roode vs. Owens, but I think Owens needs to be working with Zayn in a program somehow. So, Orton needs a match, put him here and put over Roode. Have Roode with the US Title from the tournament then have him go full on heel glorious style. 5. Raw Womans title: Ouch, this is a v. hard one, but I guess we have to go with Asuka vs. Bliss? I'm not sure here, but that seems to be the best. Asuka obv. winning 6. SD womans: Charlotte vs. Becky? IDK, is Becky injured? Either way, this is the best they have. Of course WWE will go with huge multi-woman matches destroying the credibility of the divisions, but one can dream, huh? 7. Raw Tag title match: Rollins+Jordan vs. ?? vs. ??? Ladder match?? IDK. Their tag division is lame. But needs to be ehre. 8. SD Tag Division match: Some good stuff on this show, sure they can come up with something. 9. Strowman vs. Balor? IDK. 10. Matt Hardy vs. Wyatt? Eh?? 11. Kevin owens + Sami Zayn vs. ??? Jesus this s*** is hard. Left out so many talent, IDK how WWE does this. Kevin owens, Matt Hardy, women's divisions, Sami Zayn, Cruiserweights, Jinder Mahal, Bray Wyatt, etc.

Yeah -- I am OK with Cena too. I love his current role on the roster and he seems to embrace building up the roster. His matches with AJ were fantastic and he seems to put on a good match given the right opponent style. His character work and charisma is obviously phenomenal. ...Which is why it peeves me so much that it's like going to be something like Batista vs. Cena or Taker vs. Cena. Cena vs. Samoa Joe anyone? In a highly dramatic feud starting at or before the rumble? That'd be awesome for Joe and a good fresh feud for Cena. Do that! Have Joe take the IC title off Reigns prior and make it for the IC title! Dooooo it. That's pretty much the only logical opponent I have for Cena.

I've taking some time off of WWE but with Wrestlemania season approaching the rumors are starting to come in. One rumor that I just came across is that John Cena will be having a HUGE match at WM. Bigger than a AJ Styles world title match. They speculated this meant one of Undertaker, Batista, Goldberg, or Hulk Hogan, with the likely candidate being the Undertaker. Why is the Undertaker treated as a huge match? He lost twice at WM now. He can NOT wrestle any more. This s*** bothers me. He should be retired. I hear Batista might want to come back full time, but Cena vs. Batista has been done to death. Not interested. Hogan is practically dead. Ok, not, but you get my point. Goldberg is unfortunately the best of the 4 in terms of ability, but meh, can't see it happening.