Samoa Joe announced his departure from TNA this week. Where should the Samoan Submission Machine go next?
WWE Fastlane is live on SKY ARENA and WWE Network this Monday. As the final stop on the Road to WrestleMania 31, do we have high hopes for the event?
Rhyno made a surprising appearance on this week’s episode of NXT. What are our thoughts on the Man Beast’s return to WWE?
In addition to the regular NZPWI Gimme Five Panel, we’re joined this week by NZPWI’s newest contributor, and author of the Couch Potato blog on Stuff.co.nz, Mike Kilpatrick.
Join us for this week’s Gimme Five!
***
1. Samoa Joe has parted ways with TNA after spending almost 10 years with the company. What would you like to see Joe do now?
Mike:
I’m torn. With WWE still the very top of the business I’d like to see him get a decent run. But even without Brock Lesnar there is a lot of impressive talent in WWE with main event capability so I’m not sure he’ll get the chance he maybe deserves.
Blake:
I know that Samoa Joe has been an integral part of TNA, but he was also a founding member of Ring of Honor. I think he would be a great addition for the number three promotion that may help it take the place of TNA’s number two spot.
Steve:
I feel like ROH is his real home, so I’d like to see him there. But it’d be cool if he tore it up in NXT for a few months before doing so.
Dion:
I’d love to see Joe have a run in WWE. He is the type of guy who could just randomly show up on Raw and make quite an impact. You’d have to imagine WWE would send him NXT’s way first, though.
David:
I’d like to see Samoa Joe split his time between NJPW and ROH, much like fellow TNA alumni AJ Styles, but with an inverse of Styles’ schedule. Styles is an NJPW guy first and foremost, and a special attraction for ROH second. If Joe were to spend most of his time as a major player in ROH and work selected NJPW dates like the G1 Climax, 2015 could be his biggest year yet.
2. WWE Fastlane is this live on SKY ARENA and WWE Network this Monday. We talked about the main event’s ramifications last week – do you have high hopes for the rest of the card as WrestleMania approaches?
Mike:
I do. I think Paige is fantastic and the feud with the Bellas has great potential. Bad News Barrett vs. Dean Ambrose is going to be brilliant, and I hope Ambrose takes the title. And I’m over The Usos but will be delighted if Cesaro and Tyson Kidd walk out with the titles. Potentially it could very good.
Blake:
The only other match I can think of right now is the Divas Championship match. Does it have the potential to be good? Absolutely. Will it be? Absolutely not. The women’s division in WWE just doesn’t matter according to those in charge. Oh, I forgot about the tag team match between The Usos and, what I like to call, Team Charisma. That should be a bona fide slobberknocker.
Steve:
Well, I’d definitely like it not to suck. That’s where my hopes are sitting out. I’ll be watching hoping to be entertained.
Dion:
I do – I think we’ll see WrestleMania really start to take shape. Exciting times!
David:
Cena vs. Rusev and the much-hyped confrontation between Sting and Triple H are the two most exciting (aside from the main event) parts of the card for me. Once those are taken care of, we’ll have a pretty clear idea of what’s in store for WrestleMania.
3. Rhyno made a surprise appearance on this week’s NXT. Are you pleased to see the Man Beast back with WWE?
Mike:
Yes. I enjoyed him first time around and I think NXT has been a brilliant product lately. Seeing someone like Rhyno down there working with some of that talent is a good thing and he has a chance to make a decent impact.
Blake:
The man has an incredible amount of wrestling knowledge that he can impart to the NXT up and comers, so I am definitely glad he’s back.
Steve:
Good thing I was already spoiled on his appearance, otherwise I’d be mad at this spoiler! Because of being away the last few weeks, the only thing I’m further behind on than NXT is Parks and Recreation. I can’t imagine what would happen if someone spoiled that one for me.
Dion:
I am, and I hope he sees success on WWE programming. I do get the feeling it’ll be a hard road for him to do so, though.
David:
Rhyno’s a very welcome addition to NXT. And you know he’s there for a purpose. It’d be very interesting to see him clash with Kevin Owens, but I assume he’s there to help elevate a guy a little further down the card into a main event role.
4. Blake has discovered WCW SuperBrawl V was far from an entertaining watch. What’s the worst thing you’ve seen on the WWE Network?
Mike:
The 2015 Royal Rumble main event! Seriously, though, I can’t pick out one thing, but I will say my fond memories of the early days of WrestleMania and other PPVs don’t really stand up on re-watching 30 years on. There’s some very bad stuff in there!
Blake:
I don’t wanna think about it any more…
Steve:
I happen to love terrible wrestling shows, so I’ve had a good run with the Network, especially with lots of “quirky” old WCW on there. If you want to cringe though, check out the original Tough Enough. As a time capsule, it’s amazing. Seeing ODB audition for WWE was totally worth it.
Dion:
I don’t think there has been a worst thing – though to be fair, I’ve revisited old favourites for the most part.
David:
Anything from the dying days of WCW is pretty interesting to watch from a historical perspective but very bleak otherwise. 2000 was not a great year for that company.
5. John Cena appeared on an episode of Parks and Recreation in the United States this week. What’s your favourite film or television cameo from a wrestler?
Mike:
Mick Foley on 30 Rock. Because Foley is God! And he made a great show even better by appearing with Mr Socko.
Blake:
This is an easy one to answer. It was that time Chris Hero appeared on Border Security… and I then had to explain to my family why I was so excited about Border Security. Apparently, my reason did not warrant my reaction.
Steve:
Goddammit, anonymous question asker! What did I just tell you? Now I can’t think of anything other than my spoiler rage. But, while it’s tempting to say Edge in that Highlander sequel, I think the best is The Rock playing his dad on That ’70s Show.
Dion:
I think I’d have to go back to the No Holds Barred movie. As a teen (ouch, am I that old?), it was pretty cool seeing Hulk Hogan on the big screen.
David:
I’m quite partial to The Rock’s cameo in Reno 911!: Miami. He’d done a few films at that point but wasn’t the Hollywood mega-star he is today, and it was quite refreshing to see how funny Dwayne Johnson could be.
