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Triple H admitted on the WWE conference call yesterday that Ronda Rousey isn't actually signed? So, why the hell would they put all that promotional might behind her?
My guess, having worked in the entertainment world well before I was writing for a living, is that all sides signed a letter of intent officially decreeing that they were going to be working together and they came to an agreement on what she would be paid for the Rumble appearance and related media. It's not uncommon for deals like that to be announced before they are 100% signed in stone, especially when Rousey is out of the country in Colombia filming a movie until later this month.
Plus, what happens if the deal isn't signed?
All signs will pretend nothing happened and WWE will scramble to find another attraction for Wrestlemania. There would be egg on their faces, but I don't believe it will come to that. My guess is Rousey is signed and sealed before you know it.
Could Rousey instead sign with Impact?
She's more likely to drive a Corvette to the moon to sign with Kermit the Frog.
I know Jim Cornette runs his mouth about everybody in the business but was there a time when he was running his mouth about Kevin Owens? I ask because of Owen's tweets about headlining Louisville. Why is it that Cornette wanted so bad to ruin ROH when he was there since it was the only place that wanted to give him a job?
I don't know that Cornette ran his mouth about everyone, ever, but in this case, Cornette and Owens didn't get along when they were each in Ring of Honor. It's a well covered topic. Cornette felt Owens didn't want to get in shape the way that Cornette felt he should if he was going to be a top guy for a nationally broadcast company. Cornette also wasn't a fan of the crazier style that Owens was doing with tables, ladders, etc. because in his mind, that's not what pro wrestling should be. The reality was that at the time, Owens was making the company money and that sort of style, when it was done as a big match, was drawing, especially in NYC and Philly.
That said, it's somewhat overlooked that Cornette was one of the two names involved in the booking during that period and Owens was pushed as one of the top talents in the company, so it's not like Cornette "held him back." Cornette just didn't think that Owens did what Cornette felt he should be doing if he was going to represent ROH at the time. The other side of that was that Owens, and others, felt Cornette didn't see (or care to see) where pro wrestling had evolved. Cornette has always had a strong belief in what works and what doesn't in pro wrestling, so I can see why someone who came up in another generation would see that as antiquated from their perspective. ROH actually released a shoot interview with Owens/Steen where he went through the entire Cornette situation during an interview years ago and you can track that down if you want to hear it in his own words.
It's a shame the Cornette and Owens never found a common ground as it would have been interesting to see what they could have done together had they been able to get along, but you could say that about Cornette and some other ROH talents. It was a complete generational shift between one side and the other.
As far as how Cornette should be seen by ROH fans, it should be as a savior. The reality is Cornette helped bring ROH to Sinclair so without him, there may not even be an ROH anymore. Cary Silkin was going to shut down with the final event being scheduled for the September 26, 2009 Hammerstein Ballroom show that was the farewell night for Nigel McGuinness and Bryan Danielson as they were leaving the company for WWE. I can swear to that on a Bible as I was originally going to miss that event due to going out of town for my birthday (which is 9/26) and every single person in management at the time called me off the record to tell me to make sure I was there because it was going to be the last night for ROH.
Instead, Cornette, who had just left TNA, talked Silkin out of it with the idea of helping to find a partner or backer to take the financial weight off Silkin, who had dumped millions into ROH at this point. Cornette, through Gary Juster, approached Sinclair with a pitch for them to get involved and take on a ROH TV series, and instead, Sinclair bought the company outright.
So, while some love to villify Cornette, no one would have had a job past September 29, 2009, which would have meant, at this point, nearly a decade of no ROH - and count how many ROH talents who have either gotten WWE jobs or have gotten to work in pro wrestling full-time since Sinclair got involved - that makes Cornette the one who set the stage them to have been in the place they made it to. That's not someone to vilify - whether he runs his mouth on "everybody" or not.
Chances CM Punk gets killed again in his second UFC fight?
I really hope, for his sake, that doesn't happen, but in a shoot, anything is possible. I have a lot of respect for Punk at his age trying to make MMA a career, especially when he could easily command top dollar on the independent scene or go to New Japan. Not everyone has the chance to try and make their dreams happen and I commend him for doing it, even if his first outing showed how hard this truly has been to do. We will see what happens. I wish him the best and I think he deserves everyone's respect for attempting this.
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