The Wrestling Thread

Got a feeling Balor will end up at Smackdown

 

Superstar Shakeup (cringe) feels underwhelming as * so far. Just shuffling the bit-part players around mostly.

 

SmoJoe... okay, Smackdown just won the shakeup.

 

WWE Hall of Famer Bruno Sammartino passes away

WWE is saddened to learn that WWE Hall of Famer Bruno Sammartino passed away at age 82.

The story of Bruno Sammartino is the story of the American dream.

During his childhood in the small Italian mountain town of Abruzzi, Italy, Bruno Sammartino heard stories about how the streets in the United States were paved with gold. Though he believed it literally at the time, Sammartino would experience fortune and fame first-hand as the longest-reigning WWE Champion and the most beloved competitor in the history of the squared circle.

Life wasn’t always so glorious for The Italian Superman. Bruno’s brother and sister both passed away at young ages, and Adolf Hitler’s * forces seized their town, but Bruno persevered. He and his mother hid in a mountain called Valla Rocca during the German occupation and eventually joined his immigrant father in Pittsburgh in 1950.

Sammartino began lifting weights as a young man and grew to become one of the strongest men on the planet. After setting a world record in 1959 by bench-pressing 565 pounds, Sammartino caught the eye of Vincent J. McMahon, and became a sports-entertainer.

Bruno became an overnight sensation, connecting with not only fellow Italians, but also Latinos, Greeks and Jews, successfully bridging the gap in America’s melting pot of wrestling fans. His legend continued to grow on May 17, 1963, when Sammartino defeated Buddy Rogers in just 48 seconds to become the second-ever WWE Champion in front of nearly 20,000 fans at the old Madison Square Garden.

Bruno held the WWE Championship for nearly eight years — by far the longest reign of all time, and a record for all professional wrestling champions, no matter the organization. A household name all over the country, the beloved hero defended his title in legendary rivalries against WWE Hall of Famers Killer Kowalski, Gorilla Monsoon and George “The Animal” Steele.

In early 1968, Sammartino headlined the first wrestling event at the brand-new Madison Square Garden, just eight days after it opened. The Garden truly was the house that Bruno built, as he sold it out an astounding 187 times. When he lost the title to Ivan Koloff in 1971, grown men in the crowd were seen weeping, but on Dec. 10, 1973, Sammartino became the first two-time WWE Champion and held the title for an additional three-and-a-half years.

On Aug. 9, 1980, Sammartino defeated his former protégé, Larry Zbyszko, inside a steel cage at New York City’s Shea Stadium in front of more than 35,000 people. The heated grudge match broke box-office records for wrestling events, and Bruno retired from the ring the following year.

Bruno returned to WWE in the mid-80s as a broadcaster alongside Mr. McMahon and as a mentor for his son David, who was just beginning his grappling career. Now known as The Living Legend, Bruno also engaged in several rivalries with a generation of WWE’s greatest villains, including “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, “Macho Man” Randy Savage and The Honky Tonk Man.

The star power and influence of Sammartino was exemplified by the fact that he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013 by none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger. It was the 188th and final time that Sammartino headlined and sold out Madison Square Garden.

 

Just caught up on the Superstar Shakeup man Smackdown smashed it they have a insane roster now

 

Monday’s Superstar Shakeup edition of WWE RAW, featuring a big 10-man main event, drew 3.622 million viewers. This is down from last week’s 3.921 million viewers for the big post-WrestleMania 34 episode.

For this week’s show, the first hour drew 3.634 million viewers (last week’s hour 1 – 4.098 million), the second hour drew 3.754 million viewers (last week’s hour 2 – 4.069 million) and the final hour drew 3.479 million viewers (last week’s hour 3 – 3.597 million).

This week’s WWE SmackDown, featuring the final night of the 2018 Superstar Shakeup, drew 2.796 million viewers. This is down from last week’s 2.952 million viewers for the post-WrestleMania 34 episode, the best SmackDown viewership since the April 11th, 2017 episode, which drew 3.105 million viewers.

 

The Getting one up on Cena again

 

Jinder shooting hard on Mini Me/Verne Troyer.

 

Is this Saudi Arabia thing on Sunday ? * they aren’t having women on the show.

Don’t like how they’re making Braun a fan favourite now, part of his appeal was that he just destroyed everyone, now he’s pandering.

Can live with it when I see how much he loves it though, he’s worked hard.

 

Monday’s WWE RAW, featuring a big 10-woman main event, drew 3.104 million viewers. This is down from last week’s 3.622 million viewers for the 2018 Superstar Shakeup episode. This week’s show featured an appearance by WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar and the final hype for Friday’s Greatest Royal Rumble event.

For this week’s show, the first hour drew 3.283 million viewers (last week’s hour 1 – 3.634 million), the second hour drew 3.210 million viewers (last week’s hour 2 – 3.754 million) and the final hour drew 2.819 million viewers (last week’s hour 3 – 3.479 million).

This week’s WWE SmackDown, featuring The Miz’s return with fallout from last week’s Superstar Shakeup, drew 2.549 million viewers. This is down from last week’s 2.796 million viewers for the Shakeup episode. SmackDown featured Daniel Bryan on MizTV advertised ahead of time plus a six-man main event with Shinsuke Nakamura and Rusev Day defeating Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson and WWE Champion AJ Styles.

 

Friday

 

Gonna stop breaking kayfabe you *.

still real to me damnit.

 

I've not watched WWE for years, I used to be a big fan up until about 2003, when we couldn't afford Sky anymore.

Seen an advertisement for this event today though, and given it'll have a load of the old wrestlers I grew up watching, I'll give it a watch. You can get it free if you take the free months trial on WWE Network, and given that it's on at 5pm, it's not a ball ache to stay up for like they used to be.

I'm preparing myself though for disappointment, nostalgia will only provide me with so much, and the obvious fakeness about it will end up * me off soon enough.