September 11: What I Remember

That day will always be a blur to me because, in addition to absorbing what had happened to my hometown and to the thousands who lost their lives, I had a responsibility to help manage a broadcast network which had to deal with this tragedy as it was evolving.

Here is what I remember

The day started in typical fashion. While getting ready for work at FOX I would listen to the local newsradio station as much to get the traffic news (this is LA) as the news of the day. Suddenly reports started coming out of my radio of a plane flying into the World Trade Center. Things started escalating and I realized something big, really big was happening. Then the Pentagon. Then Pennsylvania. As numb as I was I realized I needed to head into the office. 

I woke up the Masked Wife and told her what was going on and to decide whether the kids should go to school (pretty sure they did, as I said, blur)

I headed to work and took Pacific Coast Highway because it was important for me to see the ocean rather than the mess of the 405. As I started my drive down PCH Sandy Grushow (who ran the network) called. It was one of the most bizarre calls of my life.

Sandy just started telling me what needed to be done and I kept reassuring him that I was heading down to the office and will handle everything including reaching out to FOX News. At some point in the conversation Sandy said something which made me realize he was not in LA. I asked him where he was and he said New York. I was sort of speechless for a moment. "Sandy how are you?" He told me he was fine and just started barking more orders. To this day I think he was in shock.

Turned out both Sandy and Peter Chernin (head of NewsCorp) were in New York for some meeting and had to road trip across country together to get back to LA. Would have loved to have been a fly on the wall for that.

When I arrived people started congregating in my office. We all embraced shared our feelings and got to work. I immediately called Bill Shine who was my contact at FOX News. Now I have to say this was 20 years ago and FOX News was right of center but yet to go over the edge into insanity and fascism.Having worked at two networks I found FOX News to be far more cooperative than NBC News. I knew FNC would take our (the affiliates) air and we discussed logistics so we could inform the affiliates. We had no idea how long they would hold the air so we arranged hourly calls to make sure we had enough time to take back the airways.

I had two outstanding people working with me in scheduling, MJ LaVaccare and Anne Schwarz, and we immediately started culling the schedule for anything that may be offensive. Fortunately Family Guy had not returned to FOX at that time. That would have been a headache. The one thing I clearly remember was Independence Day (the White House is destroyed by the aliens) was to air that Sunday night and we replaced it with Mrs. Doubtfire. We addressed anything that seemed offensive and alerted the current executives on the show to replace the episodes and that none of this was a negotiation.

We worked with our comms people to make sure we had the answers to the inevitable questions and our marketing people reviewed all promotion scheduled to air.

We were in the middle of baseball playoffs and football so we kept in touch with our Sports group to make sure we knew whether we needed to replace Baseball Playoffs with entertainment programming.

By the afternoon we had everything under control or as under control as things could be and we made sure we had processes in place to communicate with each other.

I left the office a bit earlier than usual so that my wife and I could discuss what had happened with the kids. The one thing I remember from that was telling them that they needed to continue to live their lives and not allow what happened to change how they live and think. That's the real goal of a terrorist attack. It was a tough conversation but essential.

I'm sure other things happened that day but it was a blur. What I will say is that scheduling and keeping a network running takes a lot of effort and you need to have the confidence and trust of your co-workers. I was fortunate to have that at FOX and we survived that day and other crises that were heading our way. 

THE HISTORY OF THE SITCOM......IF YOU SAY SO

Right before the COVID sent us all into hibernation I was contacted by Bill Carter, who is now over at CNN after a long and illustrious run as TV writer for the New York Times. Bill and I have known each other for over 30 years. I was featured in his book DESPERATE NETWORKS  and have been quoted in countless articles of his over the years. Bill wrote two excellent books about the late night wars and he was finishing up a multi-part CNN documentary on that day part.

Bill was starting his next project which was going to cover the history of the sitcom and he asked if I would come to downtown LA and be interviewed for the project. I spent 25 years in network scheduling including a run at NBC where I was head of scheduling during the Must-See-TV era. He was looking for a network suit. I obliged and sat down for a four or five hour interview.

Bill's documentary on late night TV dropped in May. It was quite interesting and informative. I lived through the Letterman/Leno part of the story and knew the actors who botched the Conan/Leno debacle. I was expecting Jeff Zucker to get a bit of a pass (he did) given that the documentary was on his CNN and I don't know if Jeff Gaspin refused to be interviewed. Those were the two dudes who bungled that transition. Overall it was a solid overview and I was looking forward to Bill's opus on the sitcom.

The Story of Late Night must have been a success because the Sitcom doc appeared earlier than I was led to believe given my conversations with Bill. When I heard it was coming I was excited. Given the amount of time I was interviewed I was looking forward to see what they would use. I watched the whole thing. Over the eight hours I appeared for maybe six seconds.....to describe a scene from the legendary Chuckles the Clown episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show.....six seconds......I may be overstating the time.

I'm telling you all this because what follows may be perceived as sour grapes and if you feel that way so be it. They were never going to use my interview because somewhere in the process of making this documentary someone decided that this was not going to be about "The History of the Sitcom" but rather a lecture series on "The Social Evolution of the Half Hour".

This show had an agenda and the agenda was not to celebrate a form of comedy but rather to critique the sitcom for perpetuating myths and stereotypes about marginalized people i.e. people who were not heterosexual powerful white men. 

Now those of you who know me and follow me on Twitter know that my political and social beliefs are pretty far to the left. My point isn't that a lot of what was being said here isn't correctly reflecting the culture at various points in time, but rather it was done in a rather heavy handed and, honestly, incompetent way.

Putting on my PhD cap for a second, there is a term in labelling theory called "retrospective interpretation" where the past is filtered through a point of view in the here and now to validate that point of view. The show runner (not Bill) had an agenda and, rather than giving us eight episodes on the history of the sitcom we were offered eight hours of how corporate media perpetuated racist, misogynist, homophobic, xenophobic and transphobic myths and IT IS ONLY NOW THAT THIS SAME CORPORATE MEDIA IS GETTING IT RIGHT. A lot of this story was being told by people too young to have been around for most of the history of the sitcom which was pretty fucking hilarious. They didn't live what they are critiquing. 

Let me be very clear. Even for what it was attempting to communicate it was awful. Each hour was supposed to be a different way of letting us know how sitcoms perpetuated capitalist myths of the family, outsiders, various sexual orientations etc. but they were repetitive. they used the same comedies to make different points, They used dramas and said they were comedies. They focused on several niche shows that were not viewed by large numbers of people but were darlings among the TV intelligencia. I don't think they ever even described what a sitcom was other than it was generally a half hour. Certain observers were used over and over and over and over again.

All I'm saying here is that this was not the history of the sitcom. Without breaking a sweat I could have laid out eight episodes which would have told the story in a much more entertaining and informative way and.....oh yeah even addressed the issues that this series did in such a ham handed way. 

Leave it to the immortal Mel Brooks to blow this whole thing up. When "Get Smart" was finally discussed in last night's final episode, and was again being put in some historical context, Brooks looked into the camera and said "We were spoofing the James Bond movies" That's all he was doing. That was all he ever did.....look at his movies. It was no more simple than that. 

The irony for me is that in, 40 years when the next history of the sitcom is told, I guarantee you that most of the "sitcoms" celebrated as socially and culturally woke will be critiqued by a new generation of observers

Anyway, if Bill does the History of Reality TV I will be happy to sit down for an interview. I hope he does because I have a lot to share.....at least I thought I did.

It's SUMMERSLAM SUMMERSLAM SUM SUM SUMMERSLAM SUMMERSLAM SUMMERSLAM SUM SUM SUMMERSLAM SUMMERSLAM SUMMERSLAM SUM SUM SUMMERSLAM SUMMER SL

 I didn't watch RAW on Monday night. I can't remember the last time I didn't watch a go home show on either of the brands. I knew what would happen on the show because every week of RAW, every week,, is just a repeat of the week before. Every fucking week. 

Smackdown at least has Roman, the Usos and the great Paul Heyman to entertain us and, of course Bianca Belair but even there things feel a bit stale and then you get Baron Corbin infecting the show.

In the good old days, like a year ago, at least you had an NXT Takeover to show how great wrestling can can but Vince may have figured out that running it the night before the big PPV was a mistake on several levels. Now it's an afterthought.

On top of all this the two men's championships feature dudes who will not be around for long and, in the case of one of them, can last about five minutes at best. Three minutes of posing and two minutes of wrestling. They would be transitional champions. I'm tired of this approach to booking.

Finally, watching all these people in Vegas just tells us that the pandemic is far from over and that this is a super spreader event. Sad.

I'll watch RAW on Monday to see what the new stories are and then probably skip the repeats. Smackdown, we'll wait to see what happens Saturday.

OK here are predictions and, of course, holy shit (💩trademark pending) assumptions.

As alway I assume a clean finish to every match but this is the WWE 

AJ/Big Guy v. RK-Bro

AJ has done what was asked of him and it's time to get get back to being a great singles wrestler. He probably has one or two good runs left. I don't know what you do with Omos maybe Commander Azeez or Drew but time to move on and Randy/Riddle can take on some new opponents and maybe have some fun. The titles change hands in a 💩1/2 match.

ALEXA V. EVA W/DOUDROP

I could give less of a shit about this excuse for a match. I assume Ms. Bliss turns the Douster into her acolyte and for the first time ever I am giving a match  -💩💩That's right a minus two holy shit.

DREW V. JINDER

I feel bad for Drew who stoically carried the company during the fan free pandemic and now finds himself buried on the undercard. I'm hoping they build him back up so I give him the win in a 💩match.

SHEAMUS V. PUNISHMENT MARTINEZ

Priest is everything Vince is looking for in a champ and Shaemus is Shaemus with or without a title so I'm assuming a 💩💩 title change.

OLD MAN EDGE V. SETH

The first of the three alta kaker matches on the car. I have to believe that Seth is being prepped for a title run (regardless of who wins the belt) and a win over Edge would go a long way to catapulting him there. This one could be pretty solid so Seth in a 💩💩💩1/2 (out of 5) match and Edge goes away for a while until his next pop.

BIANCA/SASHA 2

They are not....not taking the belt off of Bianca. She is money, she is strong and far less injury prone than Ms. Banks. She is the future. They tore down the house once and they will do it again with the difference being Bianca has to fight off Sasha's quickly put together posse'. Bianca retains in a 💩💩💩💩1/2 match.

USOS V. REY AND DOM

OK who wins this will give you some insight into the Roman/Cena match since the stories are intertwined. Not a fan of the Mysterios. They are sort of the inverse of AJ/Omos so I'm rooting for the Usos to retain. It will be a solid 💩💩💩 match. Maybe Dominik turns on his dad. That would be fun....or Rey turns on Dominick even funner.

NIKKI CROSS V. THE QUEEN V. RHEA

This is a terrible storyline. Nikki Cross is actually a decent wrestler. She and Asuka put on a show in NXT but they have reduced her to a joke, first with Alexa and now this bullshit. Who knows what's going on with Charlotte as she keeps transforming herself and her dad and boyfriend are over at the rival promotion. I think Vince has given up on Rhea. She's a bit one note and it's never clear if she is a face or a heel. I think Nikki retains and I'm giving this 💩💩holy shits.

BOBBY V. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLDBERG GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLDBERG

Two things: One of the two titles will change hands. Second, Lesnar will show up. Sadly, as I said before whichever belt changes we will have a transitional champion. I'm going to say Lashley retains. They keep building him up as a beast and he's got the mouthpiece in MVP. If I were the booker I would keep the belt on Bobby and have Lesnar appear but not with Heyman but SABLE!!!!!!!! as his "advocate" So Bobby retains in a quick 💩match.

HEAD OF THE TABLE V. CENA

This will be brutal and in the end Cena will take the belt off of Roman and lose it to him in the rematch at the next PPV or Survivor Series in November. I fucking hate this but I think this could set up all sorts of situations. The Usos could cost Roman the belt. If Lesnar doesn't face Lashley does he show up here and Heyman switches allegiances. Is this a start up for a Roman/Rollins program with the winner facing Cena in November. I'm assuming this closes the show. If it's Lashley/Goldberg (doubtful) there are other possibilities. So Roman drops the belt (you don't say one---two---three over and over again for nothing) and this will be the only 💩💩💩💩💩 of the night.

That's where I come out. Hopefully they fix their booking issues

MONEY IN THE BANK - - VIRUS IN THE ARENA

The WWE confronts its fans for the first time in a year and a half. Will be interesting to see who pops and who fizzles assuming they don't pipe in the noise. They are really building up this card like it is one of the big four and it looks like we will be back to a four hour show rather than the tight PPV's we have been experiencing of late.

I'm sorry about Bayley's injury because I feel that the fan reaction to her and Bianca is what I was most looking forward to....oh and of course how the universe responds to The Head of the Table. That has been the best story that the WWE has done in quite some time. I have always been a fan of Roman Reigns and have been waiting for the heel turn. Pairing him with Heyman was genius and the brothers are the gravy. This has miles to go. I just wish Roman was putting the current roster over rather than this parade of alta kakers. After Edge we have to suffer through Cena, maybe Brock and then Dwayne arrives, maybe, but I do have an excellent way to book that match which would involve Roman's face turn. 

Anyway here's my take on all this including the return of the Holy Shit (tm) (💩) predictions

MYSTERIOS V. USOS

In a perfect world they put the straps on the brothers and build on the current best story in the WWE. Love Rey (who doesn't) but not a big fan of Dominick who would be an adequate jobber if he had a different last name. The Usos give you much better options moving forward and it's time for them not to be the fuckups. Should be decent but not great and I'm going with the USOs walking out with the belts. 💩💩💩1/2 (out of 5)

AJ/OMOS V. VIKES

Enough of this nonsense already. AJ has done his part and let's put the belts on a team that can give us some interesting matches. The Raiders have been transformed into clowns by Vince and it's time to give them a legit run.  Like the above I expect new tag team champs on the RAW brand. VIKING RAIDERS win in a 💩1/2 match.

RIPLEY V. CHARLOTTE

I had high hopes for Rhea Ripley but she is one in a long line of performers who fail at the hands of McMahon booking. She has mastered the smirk and swagger but I still don't know if she's a face or a heel and I have no idea what Charlotte has transformed herself into, both physically and character-wise. In a perfect world this is Rhea's chance to show the WWE universe what she is capable of. Charlotte doesn't need the belt, she needs to do what's best for Rhea and she will. Rhea retains in a 💩💩💩 match.

LASHLEY V. KOFI

OK hear me out. What's interesting about MITB is where matches are situated on the card. The MITB matches don't necessarily have to close the show if there is going to be a cash out night of and that is a real possibility here. I'm going to assume LASHLEY retains but I will paint a picture where he doesn't when we get to the men's MITB match. This should be 💩💩💩1/2 Holy Shits minimum. If this match closes the show expect something big.

HOTT V. OLD MAN

Roman has other geezers to go through so this should be OK and painless but predictable. The Usos will probably interfere in some way but please don't put the strap on Edge. You can't start the super spreader era without giving Roman a run and I know how to book him at Wrestlemania. I expect ROMAN to retain and I'm thinking 💩💩

WOMEN'S MITB

Natty and Tamina nope

Alexa nah been there done that

Naomi no way

Asuka won last year, still the best on the RAW roster but not two years in a row

So that leaves Zelina (who lost to Liv), Liv and the joke that Nikki Cross has become

The MITB winner has to have attitude (that's why they stripped Otis of it so quickly in another bullshit storyline) which eliminates Nikki although they have been building up this superhero nonsense so maybe but I don't think so.

Zelina and Liv have what you need in extra-ring ability and I think this is the elevation of LIV MORGAN

I'll assume 💩💩💩Holy Shits

MEN'S MITB

I assume Riddle, Morrison, Rick O'Shay and Shinsuke are the extras although I do believe all of them are going to have an opportunity to shine.

Like Roman, Bayley and Bianca, Drew carried the company during the COVID era and, although I would like to see him win, I think it's time to move on. 

So that leaves Seth, KO and E.

Seth doesn't need the briefcase to get a title shot and he had his moment on the biggest stage of all to cash in so nah

Down to KO and Big E. Let me say that Kevin Owens is probably my favorite wrestler at the moment and, if anyone can elevate this briefcase and make it fun and exciting he's the guy, but remember I said something about the match order? If the Men's MITB goes on before Lashley/Kofi then BIG E wins this and, you know what, it almost doesn't matter who wins the championship match. If Bobby destroys Kofi and Woods to boot, E comes in and avenges his New Day brothers and beats the crap out of Bobby. If Kofi wins, E comes down to celebrate with the guys and turns on an exhausted Kofi and grabs the title in a shocker. Can I book this shit or what, and wait until I tell you what the main event at Wrestlemania is.

Anyway, unlike the women, there is not a weak link among this crew and this is going to be the💩💩💩💩💩match of the night.

I think I'm wrong with most of these prediction but it's good to see the fans back and let the super spreading commence.

THE BIG SHRUG THAT IS WRESTLEMANIA

 WRESTLEMANIA has become just another episode of RAW or SMACKDOWN. It's nothing special. There's little buildup of anticipation. There's little suspense or real uncertainty and we come out of this right into the Draft or Superstar Shakeup or whatever nonsense The WWE will do to make us feel excited about what has become, for me, a pretty stale product.

Another problem is NXT. No NXT is not the problem but, rather, TAKEOVERS lead into the big PPV's and, as a result, we see the stark contrast between an excellent promotion and the bland parent. Night one of TAKEOVER was outstanding from start to finish. Night two not as much, other than Gargano/Reed, but still it will be more entertaining than what we are about to witness over the weekend.

Finally, and I don't think I'm wrong about this. where are the emerging stars among the men? It's why the only matches that I will watch without distraction are the two Women's championships. In Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley you see the future and their veteran opponents are at the top of their game. That's not the case with the men. Actually the most exciting thing about this PPV is to see if PEACOCK screws things up.

Just to be different I'm going to combine the two nights (oh yeah that also sucks) and rank the card in terms of how much I don't give a shit about it with 5 being I really really really don't give a shit and I'll give you my best guess as to what may happen. 

Here we go

WOMENS TAG TEAM TURMOIL 💩💩💩💩💩

Right now all the peripheral belts feel, well, peripheral and sort of meaningless. If you put a gun to my head I couldn't tell you who holds them. They used to mean something. The SMACKDOWN mens tag team belt isn't even on the card I think. Anyone but Lana and Naomi please....probably Natty and Tamina.

NIA/SHAYNA V. TAG TEAM TURMOIL WINNERS 💩💩💩💩💩

I think they drop the belts. If it's Naomi/Lana I fucking give up

BAD BUNNY/PRIEST V. THESE TWO ASSHOLES 💩💩💩💩💩

I think Damian Priest is going to be a big star so this is paying his dues. I am so sick of the Miz and I only tolerate Morrison because his wife is on the horizon and maybe there's something interesting there. Bunny will pin somebody.

NEW DAY V. AJ/OMOS 💩💩💩💩💩

Monsters like this are problematic and AJ Styles is too good to be handcuffed by this. The tag team situation is a mess and giving the straps to this unlikely duo is not going to help things. The NEW DAY don't need the belts so sadly I think we see a title change.

BRAUN V. SHAYNE 💩💩💩💩💩

Bullshit schoolyard leadup and Shayne will do some dangerous shit. These are two of the great sweaters on the roster so this will be a slippery pig match. I assume Braun wins unless they want to continue the stupid angle but why.

ORTON V. FIEND 💩💩💩💩1/2

This won't be a wrestling match but something boring and bizarre and there will be fire. I don't know if there will even be a winner but if there is it's Fiend/Alexa and then what?

RIDDLE V. SHEAMUS 💩💩💩💩1/2

Perfect example of the minimal buildup. Wasn't Sheamus sort of in the Lashley/Drew storyline and Riddle's stoner persona isn't doing it for me. I assume they will stick with Riddle.

BIG E V. CREWS 💩💩💩💩1/2

Don't get me started. Crews takes the strap.

DREW V. LASHLEY 💩💩💩1/2

Breaking up The Hurt Business? Give me a fucking break. Is this going to be a factor in this match? Drew has been carrying the promotion for a year and doing it without the support of the fans. I would love for him to get the belt back and I think it will happen with some Benjamin/Alexander shenannigans. 

SAMI V. KO 💩💩💩1/3

If they cut the crap and wrestle this could be a pleasant surprise and KO will win regardless. He deserves better than this.

ROMAN V. EDGE V. BRYAN 💩💩💩

The Roman/Heyman/Head of the table saga is the one thing that has kept me invested in WWE. I want it to continue. Giving the belt to Edge is a big mistake. I can live with Bryan but I hope Roman holds on to the strap and let Bryan and Edge do a program together. I think that's what's going to happen. Roman Reigns is the best thing going among the men. I think Brock pays a visit here. If Lashley retains it may be there.

SETH V. CESARO 💩💩1/2

Finally two warriors who are going to give us a wrestling match and can deliver the goods. Nothing is on the line but this could steal the show. I think Seth puts Cesaro over for a shot at the UNIVERSAL title.

THERE ARE TWO MATCHES WHERE I GIVE A SHIT

SASHA V. BIANCA

This will be the coronation of Bianca Belair. You never know which Sasha Banks shows up but if she's willing to do the honors and put Bianca over this should be a fantastic match.

ASUKA V. RHEA RIPLEY

This is the match I am most looking forward to. In a perfect world Asuka retains the belt in an epic battle. I have to believe Ripley will prevail. She lost to Charlotte in her first WWE PPV and I don't think they will let her lose two in a row. She's too dominant. This should be match of the weekend.

That's it and where the fuck is BAYLEY???????????

Jamie Tarses

 Back in the fall I received a call from a friend who told me that Jamie Tarses was hospitalized in critical condition. It was a shock. Jamie was one of the key executives of the Must See TV era at NBC and responsible for some of the most iconic comedies of the 90's such as FRIENDS, MAD ABOUT YOU and FRASIER. She passed today.

Jamie was the leader of a group of programming executives that was amazingly deep and remain in the vanguard of industry leaders on all platforms. In wrestling terms she had a rocket strapped to her back and jumped to ABC where she was the first woman and probably one of the youngest executives to head programming at a broadcast network. She broke down barriers but that move was at a cost.

Fortunately, after her run at ABC Jamie transitioned to producing comedies and had several successes.

Although we worked together I was part of the male suits who sort of ran the network from a bit more of a business rather than creative bent. Jamie relied on me to sometimes help her with Don Ohlmeyer. I remember when she and Karey Burke came into my office and played me the Friends theme song. Back then we were trying to cut out the theme songs but the producers wanted it and Jamie and Karey asked if I would go up to Don with them and help get it OK'd. We did.

As iconic as the era was what went on behind the scenes at NBC was pretty wild and dysfunctional and most of it has remained in the vault among all of us. I thought I would share this one story since I think it shows how difficult it was back then for women to succeed in a what was a predominantly male business.

Here it is:

We did not have a lot of senior women executives at NBC. Jamie moved up the food chain and there was another exec who also held a powerful position at the Peacock. Every afternoon we had what was known as the "2:30 Meeting" in Don Ohlmeyer's office and for quite some time it was all men. The daily meeting was to share information (in GE terms QMI) about the business and what was going on inside our building. It was an extremely productive meeting and often featured some of the dysfunction among us all. 

Don wanted to add Jamie and another female exec to the group. Problem was they hated each other. Really hated each other.

Don calls me up to his office one day. He would do that often. I would sit there quietly while he puffed away at a Marlboro or two until he was finally ready to talk. He eventually turned to me as said "What are we going to do about Jamie and _______?" I don't know why it was my or anyone's "problem" for that matter but I looked at Don and said "Don, if they had dicks would we be having this conversation?"

That ended it. He heard me and we all went along being dysfunctional and creating a decade of some of the best great (and not so great) TV.

My love to Jamie's family and friends. she was a fearless, strong and vulnerable and gone too soon.

ROYAL RUMBLE 2021:BALL OF CONFUSION

I'm sort of confused as to what directions this promotion is going. Who will be getting a push? What is the tone moving forward? Will the two brands continue to go in opposite directions with RAW off the rails and SMACKDOWN delivering....well at least until this go home show which was sort of a mess.

All that said I have not given a lot of thought to this Rumble for several reasons. More than any other PPV the Rumble needs the crowd. They are a vital part of the narrative. The surprises. the order. This is the event where the crowd should be in a frenzy by the end.

Sure WWE will manufacture the noise but this is the one that needs the big arena .

I am also not a fan of the veterans returning for these events and my fear is that both Edge and Goldberg walk out victorious and what then has been the point of the last year. Rollins returning for the Rumble could be interesting but what is he? The new dad or the messiah?

Other than Reigns who is kicking major butt with his cousin and advocate I'm not really into the strap wearers....well maybe Asuka a little but they always fuck her up and, other than KO pulling the upset,, don't really care if they all keep the belts.

Anyway here are the predictions. Re the Rumbles I will give who will/who should and surprise winner guesses and this year they are really gusses. As a bonus I will project the final four.I just don't feel direction in this promotion.

Play along...oh and as always holy shit (💩) predictions.

WOMEN'S TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP

NIA/ SHAYNA/ V. THE QUEEN/ EMPRESS OF MAÑANA (C)

Time to split up the heels. Other than that don't really care. Champs retain in a 💩quickie.

DREW (C) V. GOLDBERG

You know this will be quick and sadly, other than a run in DQ maybe by Sheamus, Goldberg walks out with the strap 💩1/2 is all I can give this one.

SASHA (C) V. THE PRINCESS OF STATEN ISLAND

Let's get this feud over with so Sasha can start a program with an NXT call-up please. Another 💩match

THE HEAD OF THE TABLE (C) V. THE GREAT KO

This will be wild and probably the match of the night. Love both of these guys and it will be brutal. In a perfect world Roman drops the belt but we don't live in that world. Regardless these two guys and this feud could go on forever. 💩💩💩💩1/2

WOMEN'S RUMBLE

WILL WIN: LACEY EVANS

SHOULD WIN: BIANCA BELAIRE

SURPRISE WINNER: RHEA RIPLEY

FINAL FOUR:

LACEY

CHARLOTTE

BIANCA

BAYLEY

💩💩💩

MEN'S RUMBLE

WILL WIN: BRAY

SHOULD WIN: CESARO

SURPRISE WINNER: LARS SULLIVAN

FINAL FOUR:

FIEND

CESARO

BRAUN

SHINSUKE

💩💩💩1/2

When it comes to the two rumbles I expect the unexpected.

Have fun.