theFRANCHISE

Yes, they want Sheamus to be their next mega-face, especially since he's not American-born. It builds the perception that WWE is an international entity that wrestlers around the world aspire to join, and that WWE only has the "best of the best." It's smart on WWE's part, especially since this helps buyrates for their international tours and builds their global viewership.

Pretty standard promo from The Rock, but still better than what I've seen from a lot of the younger guys still accepting the scripted promos they're force-fed. Also, I never expected Rock to be there in-person. Conventional wisdom said he wouldn't be there until the last RAW before Survivor Series anyway.

I love what Jericho and Punk are doing. Even if management doesn't see this as a viable marquee PPV match, they're planting the seeds for their own angle and forcing WWE's hand. Brilliant use of social media, and it falls perfectly in line with how WWE wants their talent to use social media.

I wonder if they'll do steroid-Batista or MMA-Batista. Batista is still muscular, but he's so much smaller these days after all that MMA training...it'd be weird to see him back in a WWE ring in his current shape...

Since Jericho isn't under contract, I can understand why it was harder to get him. Also, Jericho probably didn't care to do any new scans (even though they could've recycled his model from last year's game) and THQ probably didn't want to pay extra to license his likeness separately if they're already paying extra to license Macho Man and Mick Foley, among other former employees. Remember, the WWE license only includes trademark that the company owns, and while this does cover many legends' gimmicks, the point of contention has to do with likenesses. If a wrestler who is not under contract doesn't sign off on their likeness being included, then THQ can't do it. There was probably an issue with getting together with Y2J since he had been out of the country. WWE probably also didn't push hard for Jericho to be in the game, unlike other former employees like Brock Lesnar.

I was a Maryse fan, too. (Not necessarily for her wrestling skills, though...)

That, and he's also getting senile. At least Vince himself is recognizing his age, though. That's why he's gradually stepping down. Frankly, the sooner he relinquishes the majority of power to HHH, the better. Not only does that mean HHH will start to be less of a TV character, but he'll also utilize more of that old-school booking approach that's been implemented since last year (character vignettes, squash matches, more questions than answers at the end of shows, etc.)

That screenshot is a little messed up because there's some repeat titles, but otherwise, I'm satisfied with all the information released thus far. I have two gripes, one of which I'm ok with but the other I'm not: 1) I don't like that injuries cannot be turned off, and there doesn't appear to be any reason not to give us that freedom; 2) I don't like that you can't just add shows to any day of the week and that you can only replace existing brands, but I can easily work around that and I understand the limitations there due to the ranking system.

Alicia Fox as free DLC hints at the possibility of other free DLC characters being made available after the third (and presumably final) DLC pack in January. That said, I'm not optimistic. Apparently, THQ really stretched their budget big-time with this game, particularly since they spent so much time on overhauling animations and tweaking the level of detail from last year's game. I really can't complain about this pack since I'll be getting the Fan Axxess pass anyway. These Divas will just fit into my plans to overhaul the women's division.

Part 2 of their Universe reveal is today in the form of a fan Q&A where they answer the most frequent questions asked of them, pertaining to info that wasn't already revealed in Part 1. Today is also when THQ will be releasing more DLC info, specifically on the second DLC pack containing 5 Divas. The third DLC pack will be released in January and will feature 3 legends to round out the remaining DLC characters.

TNA has hit an all-time low. First off, if they wanted to take the belt off an injured Angle so badly, they should've just had him drop it to Roode instead of having him drop it to James Storm the following night with no build. But now this?!? Another major angle with no build?!? Vince just needs to put them out of their misery. Or Sinclair Broadcasting Group. Anyone at this point.

Riley's been injured and I believe he's been sidelined as a precaution rather than surgery.

There is always the chance for more DLC content beyond what's been announced and the expected remaining DLC wrestlers, as they never said that they would limit themselves to just DLC wrestlers and attire. I don't believe they'll release too many arenas, however. A lot of the arenas we'd like to create, including Old-School Raw, have items already in the mode for that very purpose.

My assumptions were confirmed: E&C and LOD's classic attires don't count against the list of yet-to-be-revealed DLC wrestlers! That means there's 10 left to go. I can see: - Bret Hart - Chris Jericho - Batista - Macho Man - Brodus Clay (already spoiled) - Trish Stratus - Kharma - British Bulldog - JBL - Vader That's just based on people who have current affiliations with WWE or good working relationships. Other possible names: The Bushwhackers, Diamond Dallas Page, Lex Luger, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, Lita, Ron Simmons, The Usos, Vickie Guerrero UPDATE: Apparently, there's 13 total Divas in the game, with only 7 revealed as being on the main roster thus far. This means that 6 of the 10 soon-to-be-revealed DLC wrestlers are Divas. In which case: Trish Stratus, Lita, Sunny, Vickie Guerrero, Alicia Fox, and AJ are my likely picks.

If the classic Edge & Christian character models are actually alternate attires like the Road Warriors' NWA attire, that means that there's still 9 more DLC Superstars to reveal!... Otherwise, if those alternate attires count as characters, then there's only 5 left to reveal on Thursday.

I think it's possible but not likely. If we're going with the attire as a hint, however, it would be suitable for a heel turn. The "Rise Above Hate" slogan would be in line with the selfishness of a heel, as he would have to rise above the fans' hatred for him to succeed. At the same time, as a face, it's also a motivational quote. Quite frankly, I think a lot of his fans are old enough to accept a Cena heel turn and even cheer for him through it, especially if it means he expands upon his character and goes outside of his usual babyfaced element. Pre-teens and teens would suddenly think he's cool because he's destroying good guys as a bad guy, instead of destroying cowardly bad guys as a good guy. Adults would just love a change of pace from the usual "Never Give Up, Never Say Die" philosophy.

The Rock teaming up with Cena had already been advertised well in advance on WWE.com and The Rock's social media portal. There was even a graphic on Rock's Facebook page that advertised it as the first and last time they'll join forces. NYC-area TV outlets ran local ads that advertised The Rock teaming up with Cena. WWE drops the ball on storyline logic yet again.

I work Halloween night, but if I go out to the bars afterwards, I'll probably be Batman or a chubby Rock.

"Bullet" Bob Armstrong was inducted at this past WrestleMania earlier this April. He was inducted by three of his four sons, all former wrestlers: Scott (a current WWE referee), Brad (a WWE producer), and Brian (the former Road Dogg, a newly-hired WWE road agent and producer).

WWE Title - ADR over Cena World Heavyweight Title - Henry retains Tag Titles - Ziggler/Swagger over Air Boom U.S. Title - Ryder over Ziggler Divas Title - Beth Phoenix Awesome Truth over HHH-Punk Rhodes over Orton Sheamus over Christian

I think I, too, wouldn't mind Cena in the title picture so often if his character was just given more compelling stuff to work with. Yes, I'd still have gripes with his limited moveset and hokey promo style, but it wouldn't so bad if he would be given new competition and would put those guys over. Cena's handicap match with Ziggler was phenomenal, but I was disappointed in the outcome since Cena overcame all odds to win. If Cena must go over, I prefer for him to win close matches rather than get dominated and then make a miraculous comeback. This is Hulk Hogan 2.0.

While I'm high on Ziggler right now, I think I'm fine with Ziggler dropping the U.S. Title to Zack Ryder if Ryder proves that he's worthy of holding the strap. So far, he's done an ok job of responding to each opportunity he's been given during this recent push, but he needs to take it to the next level if he's to become a credible champion. I would keep the tag belts on Air Boom if Ziggler wins his U.S. Title match. Otherwise, Ziggler-Swagger holding the belts for awhile wouldn't be so bad for the tag division, as it'd give Air Boom regular competition.

I would much rather have Awesome Truth go over HHH-Punk just because they need the win more and it helps advance the storyline. I'll probably end up buying the PPV this weekend.

You can choose which on-screen graphics are used, so in theory, you can still get that WrestleMania look and feel with the presentation -- the stage just might not reflect it. EDIT- After watching THQ's latest feature on the game, there was a very brief shot of the stage on a created arena and I noticed that you perhaps can edit elements of the stage, but not the whole stage itself. You're still stuck with the generic HD set as your base, but you can apparently edit the looping minitron graphic as well as the lighting and graphics on the top and sides of the stage. You still can't add setpieces like the large Backlash hooks or the huge WrestleMania logo from WM27, but this seems like more of an amenable compromise than I thought.

From what I understand, you can't edit existing arenas or do anything to the stage area. Rather, they give you a generic template that looks just like the HD RAW/SmackDown set and you edit the ring, ringside area, lighting, and ramp. That means no 100% recreations of elaborate PPV sets. But, I could be wrong and maybe they'll let us edit existing arenas. That actually sounds like a nice compromise to not being able to edit the stage area. I think the big technical obstacle with editing the stage is the Titantron and how the game would handle video alongside all the customized objects in the environment.